It was, to be sure, a risky strategy for a Democratic Senate candidate in the South: run a sorta-psychedelic television ad depicting your Tea-Party anointed opponent as a groovy turtleneck and corduroy jacket-wearing, idol-worshipping, bondage-indulging svengali.
Jack Conway and his strategists hoped the now infamous Aqua Buddha ad would incur doubts among social conservatives about Rand Paul and change the game in Kentucky, where Paul now leads Conway by 7 to 13 points.
But it the strategy turned out to be a bust.
Why? Here’s the thing about social conservatives: it’s not that they don’t have freaky lives, it’s just that they see no reason to talk about them in public.
Is it really so shocking that rebellious young white men at Baptist Baylor University smoked pot and tied up women for fun? That sounds like standard weekend behavior for the young white conservatives I grew up around. (Never mind America’s long national history with sexualized bondage in the form of slavery.) And what about secret paganistic societies with odd behind-closed-doors rituals? That too is classic Americana—just as American as the Freemasons.
What really breaks the good Christian folks code of conduct is not engaging in questionable behavior but rather exposing the indiscretions of other good Christian folks, especially after they get established and powerful.
