In the New York Times this morning, columnist John Tierney argues that the Republican Party is losing the hip, urban, libertarian voting bloc, dubbed “South Park Republicans” after the profane animated television program. Attending a Reason magazine conference, Tierney cites Andrew Sullivan and Reason editor Nick Gillespie, who argues that the culturally libertarian youth vote is as likely to show up for the GOP in this fall’s elections as Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) is to join the Village People.
Of interest to those of us who are not libertarians, South Park devotees, or Republican partisans is Tierney’s assessment of the strange relationship between the libertarians and religious and social conservatives.
Tierney talks to Trey Parker, co-creator of South Park, a show which regularly sought to demean religious ideas, people, and the Deity Himself. Nonetheless, Parker says there was a time when he, as a Republican, saw the religious right as an ally for libertarian causes.
“The Republicans didn’t want to run your life, because Jesus should. That was really part of their thing: less government, more Jesus,” Parker says. “Not it’s like, how about more government and Jesus.”
