In close elections, you never know what might be the tipping point to get that extra razor thin margin of Independent voters to push a swing state into your column.  I will not be surprised if we are standing around the water cooler at work on Wednesday, 07-Nov-12, reflecting on the election results and someone might give Chick-Fil-A credit for Romney’s victory.

Think I’m crazy?  Let’s reflect on the events of the past few weeks.

16-JUL-12

The President and COO of Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy, gave an interview with the Baptist Press in which he said the following:

“Some have opposed the company’s support of the traditional family.

“Well, guilty as charged,” said Cathy when asked about the company’s position.” “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”

“We operate as a family business … our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that,” Cathy emphasized.”

“We intend to stay the course,” he said. “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”

19-JUL-12

Actors, Liberal Blog sites, Universities and Civil Rights groups supported boycotts of Chick-Fil-A restaurants.

20-JUL-12

Jim Henson’s Muppets announce on their Facebook page that they will sever ties with Chick-Fil-A.

22-JUL-12

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee calls for a national Chick-Fil-A appreciation day and creates a Facebook page announcing the event.

25-JUL-12

Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel, says that Chick-Fil-A’s values are not Chicago values and actively lobbies to block opening of new Chick-Fil-A stores. 

Not to be outdone, Boston mayor Thomas Menino sent a letter to Chick-Fil-A suggesting they refrain from opening more stores in his city.  It should be noted that Menino walked back those comments a day later saying he didn’t have the right to block Chick-Fil-A stores from opening in Boston.  

01-AUG-12

The national Chick-Fil-A appreciation day was huge with just about every restaurant having long lines and the restaurant set an all-time one day sales record. 

I can attest to this first hand because the Chick-Fil-A restaurant I drive past on my daily commute was packed as can be seen from this picture I snapped while I drove past.

Then there was this person who decided to use this special day to video tape his intolerance and post it to his YouTube channel but unfortunately for him, he was apparently fired from his job because of this act.  

Unfortunately, my alma mater has decided to get into this fight and is looking into ways to shut down the Chick-Fil-A restaurant on its campus. 

02-AUG-12

Gay activists are planning a ‘national same sex kiss day’ for Friday, 03-AUG-12.

What It All Means

Even though it appears that this situation is far from being relegated to the dustbin of current events, there are some immediate take-aways that will have implications for the upcoming elections in November.

The Chick-Fil-A events over the past month highlight the differences between the way Conservatives protest and the way Liberals protest.  Conservatives use their money to voice their opinion and they spent a large sum this week at Chick-Fil-A which operates over 1,600 stores in 39 states.  Forget Cash-For-Clunkers, this economic stimulus was generated entirely by the Free Market without a penny of government aid and can’t be characterized as ‘Astroturf’ as Nancy Pelosi is prone to do.  It should also be noted that even with the huge assemblies at over 1,600 locations across America there wasn’t a single incidence of violence, vandalism or other criminal activities and this can’t be said of the Leftist protests that have occurred at the Occupy Wall Street sites.  Conservative protests benefit the economy and don’t call for riot police or Hazmat teams to come in to clean up after they leave.

The comments of the mayors of Boston and Chicago reveal the true nature of Leftists.  They are not in favor of diversity or freedom of speech unless those espousing those ideas are in total agreement with the Leftist dogma.   It must be emphasized that Mr. Cathy’s comments were personal in nature and came from his religious beliefs.  There is ZERO evidence that Chick-Fil-A discriminates against homosexuals with regard to hiring, promoting and service so the ‘homophobic’ labels are unjustified and just a smokescreen to promote a Leftists faux rage argument. 

We are now living in an America where government officials exert their influence to shut down businesses because the owners of those businesses have religious beliefs that are different from the ruling regime.  Did you ever think this would happen in America?  I am a Conservative Christian but I  would be equally outraged if a mayor refused a business license simply based on the fact that the business owner was an admitted atheist. 

And no, this is not the same as a city banning the operation of a strip club or Wal-Mart in a local community.   When these types of businesses have been denied licenses to operate that has come about from town hall style meetings to hear from the citizens and those types of businesses have been denied entry only when it is apparent that there will be a detrimental economic impact to the community. 

If people are upset with the beliefs of Chick-Fil-A management, then they have every right to boycott that business and I’ll fight for their right to do that.  I don’t eat at Arby’s anymore once they caved to Leftist pressure to boycott Rush Limbaugh but I don’t write letters to my mayor asking that he shut down all Arby’s restaurants or block them from opening new ones.  A local government should never be in the business of banning businesses based purely on religious or political beliefs.  Let the Free Market pick the winners and loser, not the government.

I supported the national Chick-Fil-A appreciation day, not because of religious grounds, but because of First Amendment grounds.  I don’t believe a government has the right to deny a business the right to operate simply because the business owner has different religious/political views than the government leaders.  It’s that simple.

The Chick-Fil-A events over the past month have revealed the true character of Leftists and independent voters will not be pleased by their hissy fit.  Conservatives accept that other people have different views and either engage them in conversations or ignore them but Leftists get upset when they see others with different political views and seek to punish them.  Conservatives utilize the Free Market and look for other options when faced with a business whose political views are in opposition to theirs but Leftists seek to shut down the business that doesn’t subscribe to their view.   This subtle, but all important, difference between Conservative and Liberal worldviews is now front and center in the election debate.

Adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it.  Liberals will be their own worst enemy as they will reach a point where they can no longer hide their true character and will resort to fascist tactics.  The Independent voters are watching these events and they will vote accordingly in November.  We will look back on the events of July/August 2012 as a significant tipping point in the Conservative movement and the election of Mitt Romney.