What Vision Do Republicans Have for American Society?

In the first week of August 2015, Republican candidates participated in three accountability and debate programs. The first program on August 3 in New Hampshire featured 14 candidates, each given about five minutes to answer the host's questions without engaging in back-and-forth dialogue. In this program, candidates had little opportunity to present their platforms. In the second program, candidates who did not meet the public opinion threshold to participate in the main debate (former Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Senator Rick Santorum, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, former New York Governor George Pataki, Senator Lindsey Graham, and former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore) participated in a one-hour debate in Cleveland, Ohio, just hours before the main debate at the same location. The third program, or main debate, featured 10 candidates who were shown to be in better standing in polls: billionaire Donald Trump, Ohio Governor John Kasich, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Ted Cruz, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Governor Mike Huckabee, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and Senator Rand Paul. Trump was in the spotlight before this debate for his insults and personal attacks on other candidates. Conservative American citizens, those leaning towards the Republicans, and factions within the Republican Party can find representatives of their concerns and policies among the 17 candidates mentioned: Cruz representing the Tea Party, Santorum and Huckabee representing evangelicals and social conservatives, Fiorina, Pataki, Kasich, and Bush representing economic conservatives, Rand Paul representing libertarians, and Graham representing a group labeled neoconservatives. The debates largely focused on social and economic issues, with foreign policy discussions influenced by the nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic and the threat of ISIS. Economic and social issues intertwined in the United States took up significant time, with discussions centered on taxes, religious freedom, civil and citizen rights, immigration, racial harmony, abortion, healthcare insurance, and other welfare umbrellas. Most candidates believe that the necessary introduction to resolving illegal immigration and clarifying the status of about 11 million illegal immigrants is to secure the southern borders of the country through building a wall and controlling the border with drones. Despite harsh and severe rhetoric against illegal immigration (the United States accepts one million legal immigrants annually), when it comes to solutions, most Republican candidates lean towards guiding illegal immigrants towards legal pathways without accepting their citizenship. Some candidates, like Scott Walker, had previously spoken of a general amnesty for illegal immigrants but retracted that opinion during the debate. Republican candidates unanimously oppose President Obama's healthcare plan. However, some of them do not offer any alternative solutions for those without health insurance. They talk about savings accounts for insurance, which only addresses the problems of those who have financial means. Others have alternative plans that cannot be comprehensive. Republicans fundamentally do not believe in a mandatory insurance system for all citizens. Given that of over 40 million uninsured citizens, only about 16 million are covered under the healthcare plan introduced by the Obama administration, this issue will remain a topic for both parties in every election. Additionally, those Republicans who fundamentally believe that healthcare should not fall under the purview of the federal government will continue to oppose it. The release of a video in which an employee of the 'Planned Parenthood' organization discusses selling parts of aborted fetuses for research has brought the issue of abortion back into the media spotlight. Republican candidates, all opposed to abortion (some even oppose abortion in cases of maternal risk, incest, and rape, while others make exceptions for these three), identify as pro-life and, referencing this video, called for the complete defunding of this organization (approximately half a billion dollars), even though this organization does not solely focus on abortion. Social conservatives also expressed their opposition to the Supreme Court's decision on this matter about 40 years ago (in the 'Roe v. Wade' case). Only former New York Governor George Pataki, while stating his personal opinion in favor of unborn fetal life, considered abortion a legal matter that should be left to women. Unlike previous election cycles, the issue of social equality, which has always been a hot topic for Republicans, was not addressed in the questions this time. In the last presidential election cycle, the release of a video in which Mitt Romney referred to about 47 million Americans as government dependents was used by Democrats to attack Republicans. For this reason, Fox News hosts and most candidates did not address this topic. Only Ohio Governor John Kasich explicitly stated, while advocating for economic growth, the necessity of supporting those who, in his words, are in darkness and in need of government support. The issue of taxes, which Democrats always raise for income distribution and reducing class gaps, was mainly presented as a tool for boosting economic growth. Some candidates argued for the necessity of changing the existing complex tax system to a simple flat tax at a specified percentage of income, while others advocated for limiting taxes to consumption taxes and some on a tiered percentage of income. In this context, those candidates with experience managing a state (Bush in Florida, Perry in Texas, Christie in New Jersey, and Kasich in Ohio) emphasized the need for financial discipline to regulate income and expenditures. After the Supreme Court ruling on the freedom of same-sex marriage in the United States, this issue has been continuously raised by religious conservatives in the country, asserting that religious believers have the right to refuse to provide specific services to same-sex couples, such as a pastor not wanting to officiate their wedding or a restaurant not wanting to cater their event, or a florist not wanting to sell them flowers. This topic was also raised in the candidates' debate to the extent that one candidate called for the passage of an amendment to the Constitution to protect religious freedoms in this area. Due to the existence of religious freedoms in the United States and the separation of church and state, this issue cannot become a serious policy for candidates in election campaigns. However, when religious freedom intersects with the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ individuals, the parties involved align against each other.