This almost made me laugh, almost... on so many levels. For starters, I think half the problem with the reactions here are that most people here don't really know much about Republicans, other than the media stereotype, and various straw man arguments. Something I've brought up in the past, but I'm not going to argue about here. The central point is that given that I've pretty much been representing the right wing in political discourse on these forums for years now (and have over 10,000 posts I believe), and have also talking about doing things in games that make this sampling of this guy's behavior seem tame, it shouldn't shock anyone that yes, Republicans game, like fantasy and science fiction, can really dig horror movies, and everything else. Indeed it's surprising that it seems every once in a while some democrat decides to pretend to be all shocked when they realize that the Republican party aren't the "scared old men" that left wing party propaganda tries to paint us as, sort of like the recent CPAC after dark article:
http://news.yahoo.com/cpac-after-dark-030519552.html;_ylt=A0LEVyzgzz1TtGsAo9JXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzOXE0NmxsBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDM3OF8x
Of course it should also be noted that one stock joke among Republicans for decades now has been "the difference between liberals and conservatives, is that liberals like beer and girls, where conservatives like COLD beer and HOT girls".
But I digress, SCA events, Renfaires, LARP groups, etc... all have good populations of right wingers, to the point where I've actually been surprised there hasn't been more forceful representation over a larger scale throughout fandom related communities than we've seen so far (though over the years I've seen the balance swing both ways).
At any rate, it is true that you do have the religious right, which has a particular place a party based thematically around strong local and state government (with people having the right to decide what happens in their back yard, so if say a strongly religious community chooses to have very moralistic laws, it's not the job of the Federal government to tell them 'no'. Democrats of course disagree, and hence the dispute... which I won't get into here since it's not the point).
That said what we're looking at in this particular case is a bit of political infighting, based on who is going to represent the party. Florida *is* a state with a lot of old people who do not like change, and where to a great extent the left wing stereotype of what Republicans are like can and do apply. After all your dealing with a lot of gated communities and such for seniors who pretty much want stability and a degree of societal isolation as they live out their last days. In this particular arena pointing out Rush's hobbies and painting him as one of the youth is a solid tactic by his opponent, banking on there being enough older people in this arena who have no idea about things like LARPing to care. On the other hand if the arena was different a candidate with these same kinds of hobbies (which are admittedly unusual among big politicians) could promote them as a strength, especially when trying to appeal to the
vote of "younger" Republicans of my generation and newer (ie Generation X and Y).
I'm not going to get into a fight over idealogy, but let's just say that "fear of change" or "misunderstanding" has little to do with the reason why most Republicans oppose some of the things (socially and otherwise) Republicans embrace. In a lot of cases it comes down to disagreement over what the facts of certain big issues actually are.
I'll also say that for once I don't think "Tea Party" has a lot to do with this other than Rush running against "their" candidate. On some levels they might actually be right, to be honest Rush seems like my kind of guy and someone who I'd vote for on the right side of the spectrum (where I am) on his own. Overall though one has to look towards who has the best chance of being able to beat the Democrats in Florida. The Republican Party has done well largely by being able to hold together it's coalition of enough older folks (as I said here the stereotype is true), and it's likely that this same basic voting bloc could carry them to victory, or have the best chance. Rush represents a gamble in terms of being able to pull in more of a youth vote and erode some of the liberal core, enough to equal, or surpass, what would be lost from traditional supporters. There isn't just this race to consider, but also a meta-strategy. As a registered Republican in that vote (which I'm not) I might very well vote against Rush, not because of his LARPing per se, or because it makes him a freak (indeed he's more like me than most politicians, even if I don't do the live action side
of things as a general rule... I've been to some SCA stuff though), but simply because I'm not sure if he'll be able to carry the state as well as the other guy and win the office. Running against your own party and running against the other side are two entirely different things.
It should be noted that in voting for the guy who I liked the best (which I usually do despite the above point) I have not once, ever, seen my preferred candidate win a primary election. Something which might also explain a bit about my relationship with the Republican party and why some have noted I tend to be more than a little critical of it on certain issues.
