Either the pro-Sarah Palin and anti-Sarah Palin factions of the American conservative movement will resolve their differences, or the left will resolve those differences for them.

The culture war within the conservative movement over Palin will ultimately destroy the movement, and the Republican Party, if both sides don’t come to some sort of an understanding. Sadly, whether the McCain-Palin ticket wins or loses, it doesn’t look like either faction will extend an olive branch to the other side.

Conservative unease with Palin has little to do with her educational level or economic class; Rick Santorum is highly-educated and not exactly “working-class”, but he would have generated the same negative heat from the folks who currently dislike Palin had McCain selected him as his running mate. Palin has angered portions of the right exclusively because of her socially conservative views. Not every conservative or Republican is a “values voter”; those who are not seem to have the biggest problem with Palin.

How can this rift be resolved? Is it possible for both sides of the right to listen to each other?

Both anti-Palin and pro-Palin conservatives must remember that they have a common enemy: the extreme political left, the Daily Kos/George Soros/Media Matters/Center for American Progress types who have made clear their urgent desire to move the country in a direction that mirrors statist Europe. These entities spit upon David Limbaugh and David Brooks with equal glee.

The pro-Palin and anti-Palin factions must understand each other’s concerns, even if they don’t agree with said concerns. Supporters of Palin are worried: they see a culture that’s seemingly spinning out of control, with a social ethos that places pleasure above principle and materialism above morality. They legitimately believe that having someone with “old-school” values in Washington is of paramount importance. In Palin, they see someone that can bring the country back to the template envisioned by the Founders.

Critics of Palin are also worried. They recognize that, in part because of the secularism of the age, there’s been a reduction in the number of voters who buy into social-conservative arguments. In their view, Palin has alienated voters who feel that it is not wrong to allow a woman to seek an abortion in cases of rape or incest, or who might not share “traditionalist” concerns about same-sex marriage. They feel—not without justification—that a party attractive only to people who agree with Palin’s social views is a party that will soon fade into the ether.

Why can’t both sides of the right hear what the other side is saying? Yes, it’s wrong that Kathleen Parker received so much hate mail after criticizing Palin in her syndicated columns—but does Parker not understand why Palin has become such a superstar in the eyes of social conservatives? Yes, one understands why Rush Limbaugh is frustrated with Palin critics like David Frum—but does Limbaugh not understand that there are certain Americans who will only listen to conservative arguments when they’re espoused by people like Frum and George Will, and will not listen to those arguments when they’re espoused by Limbaugh and Sean Hannity?

The conflict between the pro-Palin and anti-Palin right is a truly unnecessary war. In fact, it will end up being a political quagmire, with the Republican Party as the biggest casualty. Social conservatives and non-social conservatives may have never really liked each other, but they at least tolerated each other in the past. Now, as a result of such controversies as the Terri Schiavo case and Mike Huckabee’s failed presidential bid, both sides of the right are exhibiting raw prejudice towards each other.

The Republican Party should be big enough for both factions. The GOP ought not to be the “Social Conservatives Only” party, nor should it be the “Social Conservatives, Go Jump In A Lake” party. There was a time when anti-Communism unified both sides of the Republican Party. Now, it seems, the only thing that unifies both sides is bitter, unchecked hatred of the other side.

Ronald Reagan must turn his head in disgrace as he witnesses the party he loved breaking apart. Can this divide be healed? If not, then the Republican Party—which brought an end to Soviet Communism, the welfare state, and the malaise of the 1970s—will inevitably implode.