While many pundits were expecting Republicans would use Judge Vaughn Walker’s recent ruling as a means for mobilizing voters around socially conservative messaging. Instead party leaders are keeping the focus on economic issues.
In an interview with the New York Times, while at the RNC Summer Meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring remarked that “This election needs to revolve around five issues: taxes, spending, the economy, jobs and debt.” This opinion was echoed by Indiana Republican Party Chairman went further, in arguing that focusing on social issues might play in Democrat’s favor, saying “Can we declare a truce on some of the other issues unrelated to the economy?”
The voice is matched by messaging coming from the Republican National Committee. In an interview with Politico, RNC Politcal Director Gentry Collins remarked that “Every indicator that I have … generally speaking is that economic growth and job creation are the tandem issues that will be the principal drivers of voter decision at polls. What I’m encouraging candidates to do is go out and run on an economic platform, a jobs platform.”
Larry Sabato, also in Politico, put it simply: “A modern party does not want a campaign that’s built around a crusade on gay rights. … it won’t work, for one thing, and for another, it’s so controversial that it would obscure the nonpartisan appeal of the economic issue.” He added, “I don’t think that moderates and independents get very excited about this.”
Dan Balz, in the Washington Post notes that:
At another time, the ruling overturning California’s ban on same-sex marriages might have been the political equivalent of an earthquake. Instead, the relatively restrained response underscores both the singular economic focus of this year’s elections and the shifting politics of one of the country’s major social issues.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans appear eager to try to turn the California decision into a November rallying cry. Many Democrats who otherwise strongly support gay rights are still reluctant to advocate for same-sex marriages, President Obama being the most prominent example. Many Republicans believe their conservative base is already well motivated. For now, they prefer to stay away from the kind of wedge-issue politics that were once a hallmark of their campaigns.
The ruling even drew only tepid statements from California’s top two Republican nominees, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, both former backers of Proposition 8. Commenting on the ruling as a part of Fiorina’s race in The Hill, RNC spokesman Brian Walsh noted that social issues ”will be overshadowed by the No. 1 issue on the minds of voters, which is the direction of the California economy.”
Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper issued the following statement on the lack of Republican response to the Proposition 8 ruling:
The Republican National Committee and the respective campaign committees (NRSC and NRCC) are aggressively seeking coalitions within the broader conservative community and are consistently maintaining a general drum beat of messaging on core conservative principles of individual liberty, individual responsibility, free market economy, tax reform, strong national defense and a confident foreign policy. There is also targeted messaging in certain races focusing on the negative impact of Obama’s so called economic stimulus, state challenges to health care reform, and the need to address federal border protection and immigration reform.
What is noticeably absent from the recent political debate are divisive attacks on gay and lesbian citizens. To gain a majority in 2010, the party needs to maintain our base while recouping the voters we lost in the 2008 cycle. Having our teeth kicked in during the 2008 election helped many Republicans realize identity politics had a diminishing return. Moving forward, the Republicans can win by offering alternatives to the lack luster and big government policies of the Democrats. Better for fellow Republicans to engage voters on common themes. Everyone is concerned about the economy and everyone would like to see market driven job growth.
Further, any attempts at discounting Judge Vaughn Walker’s recent ruling on Proposition 8 could be interpreted as a defense of inequality and discrimination as well as advocating for denying due process and equal protection for all Americans. There is no need for Republican candidates to run a campaign with direct or implied messaging against marriage equality.
Log Cabin Republicans remains committed to reaching out and working to create a more inclusive party, to ensure that government returns to its core values of individual liberty, individual accountability, smaller government, an unappologetic foreign policy and free market economies.
Posted: August 9th, 2010 under In Focus, In the States.
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down a central pillar of ObamaCare by passing a statute that prevents the federal government from requiring individuals to purchase health insurance. By rejecting ObamaCare with nearly three-quarters of the vote in a critical swing state, Missouri sent a clear message to Democrats and the Obama administration that government-run healthcare is a gross overreach of the federal government that needs to be repealed and replaced. In addition to voter disapproval, lawsuits across the country are moving forward and this week, Virginia earned a major legal victory in its effort to challenge the constitutionality of the government’s individual mandate.