What Happens with the SoCons?

[Kevin]

After this cycle what's the future of the SoCons with the GOP? And by extension the Ted Cruz crew as well since they are both closely tied?

Personly I viewed this election as a big defeat for Social Conservatives so far. The canididate they went in big for (Ted Cruz) failed to gain traction with the Party electorate outside of some of the Reddest States in the country. Their champion then ended the primary season by committing political Hari-Kari in Cleveland.

Ted Cruz now is one of the most unpopular members of the Senate and is facing the prospect of a strong primary challenge.

Not only did their best chance in a long time fail to win the nomination he lost it pro-choice, strongly pro-gay marriage opponent. Which is perhaps the cherry on top of the cake for them.

Lastly, the SoCons are also facing the prospect of losing control of the "true conservative" wing of the party to nationalists, populists, and the "alt-right" which shares more in common with the European hard-right then the flavor the SoCons have put forth over the past 30+ years.

[Person Man]

How do you think the neoconservatives feel? Though in a way, just as with cultural issues, he's not abandoning hawkish or authoritarian personal policies but simply changing the goals and the how. He no longer wants to invade a country and rebuild it if it is seen as a threat, he just wants to eliminate these nations as a threat and try to make the adventures pay for themselves some way. With social issues, like Cruz, sees Government, not the free market of ideas, as the definer of the culture. He, like the altright and Euronationalist Right sees the standard being race-based while those like Erdogan and Cruz see the standard being religion. That said, there are overlapping of issues but it simply seems to me that the lynchpin of the conservative movement could be shifting to align itself more with the direct grievances of conservatives. Especially those conservatives that are conservatives for reasons that nonconservatives don't understand.

[Young Conservative]

Sorry, but This is so wrong.
1) Social conservatives didn't put our eggs in one basket.
2) Very conservative people were Ted Cruz's base, not social conservatives.
3) The three main socially conservative candidates were Cruz, Rubio, and Carson, but every candidate holds mostly socially conservative positions.
4) This is one of the most socially conservative platforms.
5) The majority of GOP voters didn't vote for Trump (even less if you discount independents and democrats who voted Trump)
6) doomsday narrative for social conservatives is silly and premature

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Sorry, but This is so wrong.
1) Social conservatives didn't put our eggs in one basket.
2) Very conservative people were Ted Cruz's base, not social conservatives.
3) The three main socially conservative candidates were Cruz, Rubio, and Carson, but every candidate holds mostly socially conservative positions.
4) This is one of the most socially conservative platforms.
5) The majority of GOP voters didn't vote for Trump (even less if you discount independents and democrats who voted Trump)
6) doomsday narrative for social conservatives is silly and premature

Yeah, *big surprise* I know a ton of socons, and we were pretty split between Cruz and Rubio.  That was one of our problems- that we couldn't decide soon enough on a candidate.  But, with our platform, potential VP, control of Congress, etc., we're not going away.

[Person Man]

My guess is isn't that they are going away, they are just reconfiguring their rallying point from "compassionate conservatism" to "law and order". This probably isn't even the first swing like this.

[White Trash]

Now they'll all move to the Democratic Party!

[Person Man]

Now they'll all move to the Democratic Party!

Depolarization would definitely keep both parties alive. It could be the start of a detente but no one would be happy. There is a reason so few loyal yellow dogs  and gypsy moths remain.

I don't think the socons are going anywhere. They will simply change their orientation and who they ally themselves with. In the Bush years, it was an Evangelical movement that allied itself with the neoconservative movement to build a globalistic "compassionate conservative" coalition that made immigrant groups competitive. Now, they see that they are losing their kids for not much ground in battle (the military seems to be their version of college for those that can get into it but not the best private schools). So now they are looking for a more organic alliance with the alt-Right to protect their interests without the need for more traditional benefits that they oppose. "Replace the social safety net and labor regulations with tariffs and infrastructure spending".