3 Years After Autopsy, GA GOP Hasn’t Learned a Thing

March 18, 2016

Three years ago today, the Republican National Committee released an autopsy report to explain their losses in the 2012 elections. In the document, the RNC urged Republicans to become more inclusive and less ideological. Among some of the highlights and recommendations:

 

“The Party must in fact and deed be inclusive and welcoming.”

“Public perception of the Party is at record lows. Young voters are increasingly rolling their eyes at what the Party represents…”

“It is no wonder that Republican policies can seem stale; they are very nearly identical to those offered up by the Party more than 30 years ago.”

 

Basically, the report encouraged the GOP to become more welcoming to women, communities of color, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, young people, and minority voters.

 

Apparently, the Georgia GOP didn’t get the memo. For proof, look no further than this year’s legislative session.

 

From the 2013 Autopsy: “We do need to make sure young people do not see the Party as totally intolerant of alternative points of view. Already, there is a generational difference within the conservative movement about issues involving the treatment and the rights of gays — and for many younger voters, these issues are a gateway into whether the Party is a place they want to be.”

GA GOP in 2016: Lawmakers pass legislation that legalizes state-sanctioned discrimination against the LGBTQ community and others, with the sponsor of the bill admitting that “When the Supreme Court changed the definition of marriage, dynamics changed. There was a need for this law, and it took Georgia to lead the way of the country.”

 

From the 2013 Autopsy: “If Hispanic Americans hear that the GOP doesn’t want them in the United States, they won’t pay attention to our next sentence.”

GA GOP in 2016: Lawmakers push for an amendment to the Constitution declaring English as the official language of the State of Georgia.

 

From the 2013 Autopsy: “Women are not a ‘coalition.’ They represent more than half the voting population in the country, and our inability to win their votes is losing us elections.” “Be conscious of developing a forward-leaning vision for voting Republican that appeals to women.”

GA GOP in 2016: Lawmakers pass legislation allocating millions of state tax dollars to fund crisis pregnancy centers which are unregulated, nonprofit, often faith-based, organizations staffed by anti-choice activists long known for using deceptive and startlingly coercive practices to scare women from having an abortion, all the while publicly refusing to act on a good bill, backed by law enforcement that seeks to address the processing backlog of rape kits in the criminal justice system.

 

From the 2013 Autopsy: “Promote forward-looking, positive policy proposals that unite young voters, such as the Republican Party’s education policies.”

GA GOP in 2016: Lawmakers pass legislation to legalize firearms on all public campuses in Georgia.

 

“If anything, the only change in the Republican Party is that their extreme and divisive behavior has gone from bad to worse. They’ve doubled down on discrimination, misogyny, xenophobia, and anger. From the countless Republican-authored pieces of hateful legislation meant to divide and disenfranchise various communities in Georgia to their warm embrace of their new carnival barker, Donald Trump, it is abundantly clear that the GOP has no intention of heralding in progress.” – Rebecca DeHart, Executive Director.

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