> ..it seems that social conservatism is completely neutralized as a
> political force by (1) union membership; and (2) black skin.
While Mao held that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun," for you it apparently exists only in a voting booth whose occupant is evaluating candidates for political office (as opposed to referenda).
-- "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað."