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Reader question: Please explain this sentence: Republicans have painted themselves into a corner on social issues that makes them look less compassionate to voters. My comments: In America, the Republicans are known to be more conservative than the Democrats, who are generally perceived to be more liberal in their views, i.e. more tolerant and, generally speaking, progressive. For example, many Republicans are against abortion, gay marriage and transgender equality, etc. etc. Yet all these social issues are emotional issues. That is, they evoke strong personal emotions. Imagine yourself to be a woman wanting an abortion, or a homosexual wanting to get married, or a transgender man who wants to join the army… Yes, put yourself in their shoes and you get the point. Anyways, because Republicans are conservative and inflexible (which is why they’re conservative), they may find themselves isolated and helpless when it comes to voter relations. I mean, voters who are pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage and pro-transgender equality will likely find the Republican Party to be less compassionate than expected. And due to the fact that they’re conservative and inflexible, there’s no way out. This, I think, is why Republicans are said to have painted themselves into a corner. Painting oneself into a corner, you see, is a colorful American expression. It originates from people who do carelessly paint themselves into a corner – a corner of the room in which they are painting the floor. They bow down and walk backwards when they do this, smearing paint of a particular color onto the floor and before they know, they have backed their way into a corner, the last corner of the room. | 
