Here is an article from CNN.com suggesting that Republicans need to listen to Obama's inaugural address and need to realize that Americans views on social issues are slowly progressing:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/29/opinion/cardona-gop-and-progress/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7
(CNN) -- Republicans are dealing with their demons.
At the Republican National Committee meeting last week, they seemed to
be taking a hard look at what they need to do to compete at the
presidential level in the years to come. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
said the GOP needs to stop being "the stupid party." He is right, to be
sure, but it is not simply a messaging problem. It is a policy problem.
So here is some advice.
Reread President Barack
Obama's inaugural speech and avoid the the knee-jerk impulse to call the
president a socialist because of his defense of a so-called "liberal
agenda." Instead, observe how the issues he raised align with where the
American people are. Simply put, majorities of the country, including an
overwhelming majority of the demographic coalition that got him
reelected, mainly agree with him.
The GOP is so in a tizzy
about Obama's vision and how they are certain it is all but DNA proof he
is a socialist. But Republicans needs to consider that something much
less pernicious is at play here on both scores: The nation is
progressing.
Obama talked about
immigration reform by stating, "Our journey is not complete until we
find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still
see America as a land of opportunity, until bright young students and
engineers are enlisted in our work force rather than expelled from our
country."
Majorities of Americans have supported comprehensive immigration reform for years. Today, more than 75% support it.
Importantly, many Republicans recognize the need to do something real
on immigration, given the shellacking they received from Latinos in
November: 71% supported Obama. To his credit, Sen. Marco Rubio has
proposed some common-sense measures that are a great start to ensuring
the GOP gets serious about real reform. And on Monday, a bipartisan
group of Senators proposed a sensible plan on this important issue,
further proof the GOP knows it has to do more than just change their
rhetoric.
To the offense of many conservatives, the president said, "Our journey
is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like
anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then
surely the love we commit to one another must be equal, as well." On
this issue, Americans' evolution is recent, but has been quite dramatic,
and given the generational divide, support for it will only get
stronger. Currently, 53% of Americans support gay marriage, while 46% oppose. Even the Boy Scouts, a staunchly conservative organization, announced Monday it is considering "potentially removing the national membership restriction regarding sexual orientation."
Obama's mention of
climate change further rankled Republicans, He said: "Some may still
deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the
devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more
powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be
long and sometimes difficult. But Americans cannot resist this
transition. We must lead it." Interestingly enough, 63% of Americans
believe that global warming is a serious issue, according to a poll by
Rasmussen, which skews rightward. And while there is certainly no
consensus on what should be done legislatively about it, the president's
focus on alternative energy sources and renewable fuels also is in line
with where many Americans stand.
But the line in Obama's
inaugural address that opponents have pointed to as proof that he is and
has always been an extreme leftist president, was this:
"...Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central
authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society's ills
can be cured through government alone."
Some Republicans, once
again, choose to make hyperbolic, hysterical proclamations about looming
socialism. The reality, as always, is less dramatic and more
straightforward. The fact is Democrats, buoyed by majorities of its
winning coalition of Latino, African-American, women and young voters,
believe the government has a constructive role to play in society. Not a
bigger role, which is what the Republicans' sky-is-falling reaction has
been. But one that can protects the individual as a consumer, levels
the field so that everyone is playing by the same rules and jobs are
based on merit, and ensures smart investments in innovation, work force,
military, and infrastructure. These, spurred by our American ingenuity,
will continue to make us exceptional.
What the president's
opponents need to understand is that this is the face of progress. This
is the face of the America that exists today. Obama's vision is
mainstream -- a guide to where majorities of Americans already believe
we need to go as a country. Once Republicans understand it is not a
legislative roadmap designed to annihilate them, maybe they too can
realize they would do well to start to embrace these changes and evolve
along with the rest of us.
If they don't they may as well change their symbol from the elephant to the woolly mammoth.
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