When was the last time the GOP didn't have a STAUNCHLY socially conservative wing? This isn't new, and it won't ever go away...
They were never as dominant as they are now.
Except for that whole "Founded to fight the moral evil of slavery" thing..
A lot of the socially liberal attitudes out of the 19th century came from a religious view on things.
Religion was kind of a factor in both social liberalism and conservatism then.
You have a very frustrating view of faith in politics. "When religious people do good things, they're being liberal. When they do bad things, they're being conservative."
The great, social conservative evil that is the pro-life movement is condemned by liberals for "legislating their morality." Republicans have always done this, from our founding. The fight against slavery was the beginning of our fight to "legislate our morality" onto others. The ideological heritage is clear.
