AS INDIANA GOES, SO GOES THE GOP? We don’t hear much anymore about the split within the GOP between the so-called “economic conservatives” and the “social conservatives,” but this trenchant analysis by Aaron Renn of the Indiana GOP’s recent history deserves a close reading by anybody with an interest in the future of the party.

Here’s a sample:

“Indiana holds important lessons for both conservatives and liberals. For conservatives, it shows that the low taxes/low regulation/libertarianish economic policy approach does not always create growth and prosperity.

“For both liberals and conservatives, it shows that social policy has far less impact on talent attraction and economic growth than they commonly believe.

“When California passed Prop 8 banning gay marriage, was there a mass exodus of people and business out of the state on that account? Not that I saw. In fact, the exodus of people and business has been picking up more recently, as California has become a more solidly progressive environment.

“How much credit did Indiana get, and how much high wage investment did it attract as a result of killing a marriage amendment? None that I saw. Though people still talk endlessly about RFRA even years afterward, the fact that Indiana killed off its marriage amendment is already forgotten. California passed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Indiana did not. Think about that.

“Or look at Texas, which did pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, passed a RFRA law, and which just passed a very strong anti-abortion bill. None of that seems to have even dented their growth. Facebook even announced a major office expansion in Austin after the abortion law passed. Texas shows that states can grow while remaining very conservative, while at the same time having cities within them that have their own independent brand and are viewed as progressive. What the state did actually did not harm Texas’ cities. The Texas-Austin, and Indiana-Indianapolis parallels should be explored in more depth.”