"There's nothing cooler in today's overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly Anglo Republican Party than being neither," writes Beinart. Indeed, "The GOP will never rebound, explains the group's chairman, African-American former Republican congressman J.C. Watts, 'until you get people that look like me in the trenches.'"

Beinart points out, accurately I think, that "Republicans probably overestimate the traction they'll get from changing the color and accents of their pitchmen."

There's something deeply patronizing about the GOP's assumption that while its voters are motivated by ideology, Latino and black Democrats act merely on ethnic or racial affinity. The harsh truth is that the single biggest reason Latinos and African-Americans vote Democratic is that they mostly agree with Democrats that government should do more for people in need, even if that means less military spending and higher taxes. Even immigration drives Latino voting far less than many Republicans seem to believe.

To embrace gay rights, Republicans don't need to abandon cultural conservatism. To the contrary, an unthinking, bigoted opposition to gay equality is preventing Republicans from fashioning a more meaningful culturally conservative message for today's age. The real threats to traditional values in America today don't come from committed, monogamous gays and lesbians. They come from the breakdown of marriage among straight Americans, especially poor, straight Americans. For today's GOP, seriously addressing the cultural and economic reasons that so many straight marriages fail is a better long-term political strategy than continuing to try to bar lesbians and gays from getting married in the first place.

Eventually, the Republican Party is likely to move in this direction, irrespective of the conflict it causes with the party's Christian evangelical base. The sooner it does so, the faster it will make itself nationally competitive again.

ROTFLMAO!

"If you build it, he will come."

The real reason "Why GOP Needs To Go Gay"...

So Doc_Sarvis has some new fodder.
#4 | Posted by KBM

Actually, it's so you can make some new friends. Your circle of acquaintances could definitely do with a certain - uh, broadening.

The GOP needs to adopt a wide stance.