frank says that the conservative coalition is the dominant coalition in american politics. there are two sides to this coalition, according to the author: economic conservatives want business tax cuts and deregulation, while social conservatives focus on culture. frank says that since the coalition formed in the late 1960s, the coalition has been "fantastically rewarding" for the economic conservatives. the policies of the republicans in power have been exclusively economic, but the coalition has caused the social conservatives to be worse off economically, due to these pro-corporate policies. meanwhile, the social issues that the "cons" faction pushes never go anywhere after the election. according to frank, "abortion is never outlawed, school prayer never returns, the culture industry is never forced to clean up its act." he attributes this partly to conservatives "waging cultural battles where victory is impossible," such as a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. he also argues that the very capitalist system the economic conservatives strive to strengthen and deregulate promotes and commercially markets the perceived assault on traditional values.