Sorry, GOP. This is the face of the GOP. (Sarah Conard/Reuters)
Now that the extreme agenda of the Republican party is under real media scrutiny because of the presidential race, GOP establishment types are starting to express some concern about it,
says Politico.
In 2008, after Republicans were routed in the presidential and congressional elections, there was widespread consensus within elite GOP circles about the party’s structural problems: The Republican voter base was too old, too white, too male and too strident for the party to prosper long term in a country growing ever more diverse.
Four years later, many of the same GOP leaders are watching with rising dismay as the 2012 presidential campaign has featured excursions into social issues like contraception and a sprint by the candidates to strike the toughest stance against illegal immigration, issues they say are far removed from the workaday concerns of the independent voters Republicans need to evict Barack Obama from the White House.
They apparently haven't been paying attention to what the Republican House has been doing since January 2011, when they regained control. Because it hasn't had a lot to do with the "workaday concerns" of American voters from day one. It's all been about trying to repeal the health care law, defund Planned Parenthood, gutting the EPA,
redifining rape, pretty much everything but creating jobs and boosting the economy. Which makes this bit particularly ironic:
“It’s important that voters see a Republican Party that is inclusive and is not exclusive,” agreed House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).
Cantor said the right approach is not to avoid social issues or immigration but to recognize that, for many of the voters the GOP needs most, “jobs and the economy” are preoccupying concerns. “Independent voters,” he added, “will give you credit” when addressing divisive issues “by trying to find a way to bridge differences.”
The problem for the GOP goes far, far beyond the tone of the presidential primary. It's only shining a brighter light on exactly what the Republican party has become since it let the tea party and the American Taliban take over. And no,
it's not popular.