McCain Campgn Manager: Religion Could Kill GOP

[Dardedar]

Steve Schmidt, McCain Campaign Manager: Religion Could Kill The GOP

Speaking publicly for one of the first times since the end of the presidential campaign, John McCain's campaign manager Steve Schmidt painted a dire portrait of the state of the Republican Party, arguing that the GOP has largely been co-opted by its religious elements.

"If you put public policy issues to a religious test, you risk becoming a religious party," Schmidt declared. "And in a free country, a political party cannot be viable in the long term if it is seen as a sectarian party."

...

If you reject [gay marriage] on religious grounds, I respect that," he said. "I respect anyone's religious views. However, religious views should not inform the public policy positions of a political party because... when it is a religious party, many people who would otherwise be members of that party are excluded from it because of a religious belief system that may be different. And the Republican Party ought not to be that. It ought to be a coalition of people under a big tent."

Earlier, in the question-and-answer session, Schmidt said he conveyed a similar message to Senator McCain, though he declined to elaborate on what kind of advice was given.

"My views were known inside the campaign on this," he said.

Looking beyond the issue of marriage, Schmidt's diagnosis of the GOP's ills was fairly ominous. "Our coalition," he declared, "is shrinking and losing ground to segments of the population that is growing, whether it is with suburban voters, working class, college educated voters, Hispanics, or left handed Albania psychics, the percentage voting republican has declined precipitously."

Schmidt warned, particularly, that losses among Hispanic voters threatened to "cost the Republicans the entire southwest," a development that would make winning 270 electoral votes a near impossibility. "Had Sen. McCain not been the nominee in 2008," he said, "I am convinced we would have lost the state of Arizona."

Huff Po

[L.Wood]

.

Well. Thank Thoth for small favors. This time it is good they're late recognizing obvious truths.

First the Republicans hijacked the religionists while seeking support and campaign funds.
RayGun openly courted the Religious Right. Dick Cheney made it a compulsive and compelling case
to go after their membership lists in 2004 and encourage them to politic from the pulpit.
Now the religionists have overtaken the Republican Party so that when you think religious
extremists Republicans are automatically associated. Seems a good fit for me.

.

[Zac]

I look forward to the day when it becomes possible to base voting decisions on candidates' thoughtful, divergent political philosophies instead of having the decision made for me [us] due to religious monopolization of one of the major political parties.

Wishful thinking, perhaps; still, this article is encouraging.