BABY ELEPHANT WALK

The GOP Announces, Then Renounces, Inclusive Platform

Republican ElephantAll politicians talk out of both sides of their mouths, but when it comes to the Republican Party, it seems like the two sides don’t know what the other is saying.

The GOP published a new “road map” this week, aimed at fostering a more inclusive party that welcomes Latinos, blacks, LGBTs and other minorities, only to have Republican leadership immediately distance itself from the report.

The 100-page Growth and Opportunity Project recommended a $10 million campaign aimed at reaching out to gays, women, Americans of color, and young voters:

We need to campaign among Hispanic, black, Asian, and gay Americans and demonstrate we care about them, too. We must recruit more candidates who come from minority communities. But it is not just tone that counts. Policy always matters…

For the GOP to appeal to younger voters, we do not have to agree on every issue, but we do need to make sure young people do not see the Party as totally intolerant of alternative points of view. Already, there is a generational difference within the conservative movement about issues involving the treatment and the rights of gays — and for many younger voters, these issues are a gateway into whether the Party is a place they want to be.

If our Party is not welcoming and inclusive, young people and increasingly other voters will continue to tune us out. The Party should be proud of its conservative principles, but just because someone disagrees with us on 20% of the issues, that does not mean we cannot come together on the rest of the issues where we do agree.

The report was made public on Monday and condemnation from tea-party stalwarts and other reactionaries was swift: Even RNC chairman Reince Priebus told reporters “this is not my report”—despite the fact that he was the one who commissioned its publication after the GOP lost big-time in November.

He had previously stated the road map would help change the perception that the party was “narrow-minded, “out of touch” and “the party of the rich.”

Good luck with that, Reince.

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