Can Patria win the culture wars?

Pat Buchanan, patron saint of conservative culture warriors.

The so-called culture war - the battle between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal - is another battle front on Patria's 2014 campaign trail. Speaking at the 1992 Republican national convention, Pat Buchanan claimed that "there is a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America. It is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself." There is no lack of Buchanan paleo-conservatives in Patria who believe that old-school social conservative values such as opposition to feminism, homosexuality and abortion rights are endangered or simply no longer exist in Patria. But social conservatism in Patria goes beyond those right-wing talking points and hobby horses usually expounded by Republicans, whether mainstream GOP or Tea Party. Making Patria "a safe place for social conservatives" runs the gamut of throwing men in jail for patronizing prostitutes, agitating against pre-marital sex, returning to "1950s values" (whatever they were), imposing "modest" dress codes on women and banning public displays of affection between heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples too for that matter!

As Campaign 2014 moves into its final month, the "safe place for social conservatives" campaign appears to be running out of steam. The Supreme Court of Patria could overturn Patria's ban on gay marriage before election day or during the pre-inauguration transition. The death penalty, so beloved of right-wing law-and-order types, has barely registered on the 2014 campaign trail. Even the National Union is not wasting campaign time on bringing back the death penalty (as recently as 2010 the NU was promising to bring back public executions). Modest dress for women, presumably similar to what is on the books at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, seems like something one might expect in a Christian theocracy, as if traditional Hindu women's attire such as a sari isn't modest enough. There is virtually no proof that the ban on public displays of kissing, necking and other displays of affection will help make Aspies, 40 year old virgins and other socially inept nerds feel more comfortable and safe on the streets of Patria.

Patria may be proudly politically incorrect, but it is not a Christian theocracy or a US Republican's wet dream, despite the best efforts of minor niche parties like the Chastity and Family Values Party.