Is there room for me?

P.J. O’Rourke wrote a post-mortem on the Presidential election for The Weekly Standard.  It’s entitled “We Blew It.”  I agree with some of what he had to say.  Charles Johnson writes about the same topic at LGF.  How important are extremely conservative social positions to the Republican Party?  More self-described “conservatives” voted for Obama than “liberals” voted for McCain. Could this be because of social issues?

I am a conservative on fiscal, foreign policy, and defense issues.  I want small government.  I believe in freedom of speech and the right to bear arms.  I believe that handouts just encourage dependency.  I believe that hard work should be rewarded and that success should never be punished with higher taxes.  I believe that freedom of religion includes the freedom to have no religion.  I believe that abortion should remain legal.  I believe that evolution should be taught in schools and that creationism has no place in the classroom.

Is there room for me in the Republican Party?

I know people who didn’t look beyond the image of Sarah Palin as anti-abortion to see what she had accomplished as Governor of Alaska.  Partially, this is a direct result of the media going all out to discredit Palin.  On the other hand, how many people are completely turned off from even considering the Republican Party due to its image as the party of the Religious Right?  How many voters have seen the Republicans be just as fiscally irresponsible as Democrats (bailout???) which made social issues the deciding factor?

I’m an atheist pro-choice woman who voted for McCain.  How big of an anomaly am I?