Socially Conservative Agenda not a winner: Among Canadian conservatives there is a debate going on concerning the merger the two political parties of the right. The Canadian Alliance is the larger of the two and favors a socially conservative agenda. The smaller Progressive Conservatives are socially liberal abd fiscally conservative. There is much fear among the PCs that the planned merger might swallow up their party and create a more pro-life, anti-gay party. Jonathan Kay of the National Post argues that a hard-right social agenda may not be a successful strategy. He notes that many conservative parties in Europe have accepted society's viewpoints on such issues as abortion and capital punishment. The thing about this article that has me thinking is why the conservative party in the States, the GOP, thinks it can win with a such a backward agenda. I think right now, the far-right is winning in the aftermath of 9/11. However, that can't last forever. At some point if they keep pursuing such a hard-right agenda, the American public will lose interest. But then, the current leadership in the GOP is not one that listens to reason,