The American Principles Project, the Religious Right group that helped torpedo Mary Cheney’s short-lived Senate bid in Wyoming, claims that Republicans can win young and women voters if they campaigned more aggressively on their party platform’s ultraconservative positions on abortion rights and LGBT equality.
The organization issued a report [PDF] last fall which criticizes Republican candidates like Mitt Romney for trying to play down or moderate the GOP’s stances on such social issues. APP’s Maggie Gallagher -- formerly of the National Organization for Marriage -- even chided the far-right Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli for not being conservative enough.
In an interview today with OneNewsNow, an affiliate of the American Family Association, APP spokeswoman Kate Bryan claims that the GOP’s opposition to choice and gay rights will actually help the party win over women and young voters.
Bryan may want to check out the 2012 election exit poll, which found that 59 percent of voters supported legal abortion, or the many studies that report support for marriage equality reaching record highs.
Spokesperson Kate Bryan of the American Principles Project points out that Mitt Romney had little to say about abortion and homosexuality, and he was defeated by Barack Obama "instead of standing strong on these foundational principles that the majority of Americans stand with."
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Bryan insists Republicans were afraid they would lose the votes of women and youth, so they "deflected" on social issues.
"For lack of a better term," she says, "they were cowards."
What about the future?
"I think that they're starting to see the trend and instead of shying away from it, they're really embracing their stance and being a strong voice," says the American Principles spokesperson.
Because of that change, she predicts the GOP will garner more votes from women and from young people.
