These are interesting times for the political class, as what had been a gradual shift in political philosophy among a significant segment of the population has begun to pick up steam, and is putting some elected officials in a tough spot as they try to reassess exactly what their constituents want these days.

We began to get a real glimpse into this change over the last two years as the Tea Party movement swept the nation, and social issues though not discarded, were placed on the backburner. From the 1980s up until just recently, social conservatives dominated Republican Party politics. Yes, free market capitalism, small government and low taxes were also part of the plan. However, social issues were always lurking around the front of the pack, especially at election time.

Most Republicans today would still consider themselves to be pro-life and are supportive of traditional family values. Yet on issues like Sunday sales of alcohol or expanding the Georgia Lottery to include video gaming and pari-mutual horse racing, a lot of folks in the elephant gang are taking a more Libertarian approach.

With Atlanta having been home base for Libertarian radio talker Neal Boortz for more than 40 years, I firmly believe that Neal’s mantra of individual liberty has permeated a large segment of the age 45 and under metro Atlanta and north Georgia Republican base. Hey I’m 50 now and I know it’s influenced me too.

Probably no other issue exemplifies this growing divide in Georgia Republican politics as the current debate over whether counties and cities in Georgia should be able to hold local referendums on allowing package sales of beer, wine and liquor on Sunday.

Georgia has a long and storied history of being friendly to so-called home rule. Folks like to be able to decide issues on the local level, plus it lets the state legislature and governor sidestep important issues by passing them off to local government. The alcohol bill, SB10, would seem to be tailor made to accomplish both.

Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers of Cherokee County make a key mistake by introducing and promoting this controversial piece of legislation, SB10, before he had the votes lined up to see it through to passage. Perhaps it’s because Chip’s political base, Cherokee County, is a little more metro Atlantan than Bartow County is and he just thought the bill would have more support than it really did. Or perhaps he just underestimated the old statewide Christian Coalition network that rose up in opposition.

A decent percentage of Chip’s voters have embraced the Libertarian philosophy that states you can do whatever you want as long as you don’t infringe on the rights of anyone else. In the case of SB10, the argument is that we as a nation and society have already decided that alcohol is a legal substance for consumption by adults, so why should we outlaw its sale on Sunday? If for religious reasons, then it discriminates against Jews and Christians who keep the Saturday Sabbath instead of worshiping on Sunday.

On the other hand, State Senator Barry Loudermilk of Bartow County has a base that includes a large part of Bartow County, part of Gordon County and all of Floyd County. This area is less metro Atlanta influenced and a little more old style Bible Belt oriented than Chip’s Cherokee County district.

Barry has always campaigned on the mantra of “faith, family and freedom.” Well this time, with SB10, the faith and freedom parts were in direct competition with each other. He was catching it from both sides with the old church crowd being opposed to Sunday sales and the freedom crowd all for it.

Quite a few Republican state senators found themselves in the same boat as Barry, and really didn’t want to be forced to take a public vote on the issue. So for now the bill will not move to the full Senate for action, and those who were fence straddling can take a deep breath. However, this issue is not going away.

I’m not a prophet, but I did write a newspaper column several years ago where I predicted that by about 2012, give or take a couple of years, a new majority would form within the GOP consisting of Libertarian-leaning Republican voters who prized individual liberty, small government and low taxes. I also predicted that while social conservatives would still have a seat at the table, their influence would be diminished. It seems that we’re almost there.

Issues like SB10 and pari-mutual wagering, along with many we haven’t thought of yet, will continue to pop up with increasing regularity. Unfortunately, far too many elected officials do not have a coherent political philosophy, siding with personal freedom on some issues and government intrusion on others.

While many legislators, such as Barry Loudermilk, have pledged to always place proposed legislation under the microscope of the federal and state constitutions before casting their votes, they will now be forced to also look at whether bills increase individual liberty or increase governmental control. This won’t be easy to do, because well-meaning legislation can have unintended consequences.

With state House and Senate districts being redrawn before next year’s elections, some legislators will find themselves in radically changed districts as power continues to shift from south to north Georgia, where most of the population growth has been.

There’s a new bunch of enthused and active Libertarian-leaning GOP voters looking to see how the General Assembly handles some key issues like SB10. Depending on the outcome of that and other legislation, some legislators might find themselves with tough GOP Primary opposition in 2012.

Follow me on Twitter @chuckshiflett and also check out my statewide columns at: The Backroom Report.