Rep. Eric Cantor told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that the Republican Party needed to be more inclusive in a very vague way, especially when it came to issues like gay rights.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But Governor Huntsman says that you’re not going to be reaching out to broaden the base of the party, reaching out to young people who’ve left the Republican Party in droves, unless you do have that positive agenda on the environment, unless you move to the middle on issues like gay rights. Are you prepared to do that in the House?
CANTOR: There is no question the Republican Party has to return to be one of inclusion, not exclusion. And we are a party with many ideas. And we have in that a commitment to make sure that we have positive alternatives, if we don’t agree with this administration or the House Democrats, and to continue to put those ideas forward.
Notice that Cantor never says how republicans will become a more inclusive party. How can he when it's run by the most extreme right wing elitist/religious members of the union? And its own membership is shrinking. Americans have voted republicans out of office for a reason and they will never include gays or pro choice young people because the religious right will not tolerate it. When the base of the republican party is even against civil unions I'd like to know how Eric Cantor is going to persuade gay Americans to join with him?
Back in the fifties, as Paul Krugman observes in his excellent book "The Conscience of a Liberal," Republicans made a comeback because they became moderate in their governing approach. President Eisenhower knew that nobody would be able to mess with Social Security and they didn't try to undo the New Deal, they accepted it.
The right wing media are constantly trying to rewrite history and denounce the New Deal. Yes, Cantor can come up with alternative legislation, but that's not being inclusive to a new generation of Americans. He refutes the Rush "I hope Obama fails" Limbaugh routine outwardly to try and pass himself off as a moderate, but constantly puts forth ideas that would inevitably help make Obama fail. And the complete rejection of President Obama's agenda is a clear indication of just that.
(h/t David E. for helping with this post)
