from ThinkProgress:
Pence: Conservatives Should Focus On Social Issues Like ‘The Sanctity Of Marriage’ While Rebuilding GOP»On Fox News Sunday yesterday, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) — who will soon be stepping into the No. 3 GOP leadership position in the House — said that social issues like “the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage” will be central for rebuilding the Republican party after the stinging losses of the past two elections. Pointing to the success on Tuesday of ballot initiatives that ban gay marriage, Pence claimed that “the vitality of the conservative movement around the country is very real.”
WALLACE: I had Karl Rove on on election night, and he said, It’s not enough to just go back and say, ‘Well, we’re the party of Ronald Reagan.’ He says you’ve got to come up with new conservative solutions to the problems that people face today.
PENCE: Right. But you build those conservative solutions, Chris, on the same time-honored principles of limited government, a belief in free markets, a belief in the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage.
You look at those social issues, Chris — you know, there were three state referendums on marriage. All three of them carried — I think in Florida, California and Arizona. You know, the vitality of the conservative movement around the country is very real.
Watch it:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/10/pencer-marriage/Pence’s call for a continued emphasis on social issues conflicts with Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), who declared on the day after the election that “issues such as abortion or gay rights should not be at the core of the party.”
Pence appears to believe that the lesson of the ‘08 elections is that Republicans need to become more conservative in order to find more public support. But polling shows that voters actually blame the Republicans’ loss on them being too conservative.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/10/pencer-marriage/