Ringmaster of GOP circus wants a bigger tent

A Republican Left Turn?

By THOMAS B. EDSALL, NYT

If the Republican Party concedes defeat in the culture war, as a number of commentators on the right and the left argue it should, what will happen to the conservative coalition? Can hard-line stands on social issues be set aside?

On one side of the intraparty battle stands Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, who has suggested again and again over the past week that party leaders need to reduce the salience of culturally divisive issues. “We don’t have time to divide our party. We’ve got to go back to welcoming anyone who walks through that door,” Priebus told New Mexico Republicans on March 23. “We don’t need to be labeling people, ‘You’re a bad Republican’… Reagan said someone who is 80 percent my friend is not 20 percent my enemy. I want to build this party.”

At a breakfast session with reporters on March 18 in Washington, Priebus defended the decision of Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, whose son is gay, to declare his support for same-sex marriage. “I mean, it’s his decision. It’s his decision,” Priebus told the press.

It’s not a matter of whether I support his decision; I support him doing what he wants to do as an elected person and as an American. If that’s his opinion, then I support him having that opinion.

(More here.)