Another reason social issues sometimes divide the party is that many in both camps are very principled in their beliefs. Moderates and libertarians truly believe that abortion and marriage fall beyond the bounds of limited government. Social conservatives reason that life is the foremost of our inalienable rights and that laws traditional marriage laws merely preserve a definition that governments have codified for centuries.

Most social conservatives don't care what goes on in someone else's bedroom, but when those matters move to a public hospital or a courthouse they take to the ramparts. In most cases, conservatives didn't seek out these battles until liberal activists and judges ignited the fuse.

On the other hand, pro-life leaders sometimes treat each tangent like a slippery slope. Battles over stem cell research and Terri Schiavo aren't as clearly defined as the mission of saving millions of unborn children.

Social moderates who say they just want government to "stay out of it" will soon be tested. Will they vociferously oppose restrictions on religious speech, taxpayer funding of abortion, and federal legislation to pre-empt state laws on abortion and marriage?

Standing on principle is commendable, but beating each other over the head with our differences is a fool's sport. The Republican Party is strong enough to stand on principle and broad enough to accept that sometimes more than one road may lead to that destination.

In the coming months, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will remind us all too clearly that the principles which unite us are far greater than those that divide us.

We need that reminder because, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, "We must all hang together or, assuredly, we shall all hang separately."