GOP’S DILEMMA Views on gay nups, Confederate flag put it on defense

THE TUMULT OVER gay marriage and the Confederate flag could spell an electoral day of reckoning for Republicans — and both they and the Democrats know it.

The split Supreme Court ruling on gay nups pushed some GOP leaders angling for the 2016 presidential nomination to amp up the rhetoric on traditional marriage.

“Marriage between a man and a woman was established by God, and no earthly court can alter that,” said Louisiana Gov. and GOP presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal (below right), who has vowed to fight the high court’s decree on religious freedom grounds.

And the debate over the flying of the Stars and Bars — a sign of hate to some and pride to others — after a massacre in Charleston,

S.C., had others trying to skirt the issue by calling it a matter of choice for individual states, as did Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (below left), whose South Carolina campaign co-chairmen are spearheading the battle to save the flag.

Conservative commentator S.E. Cupp says people who personally find gay marriage offensive don’t have to change their minds — but the GOP has to find a more “accepting” tone if it wants to flourish.

“Republicans will be left behind if they fail to acknowledge where the rest of the country is on gay

marriage,” she said.

As to the flag, Cupp said, it’s “divisive,” and “unless they’re worried about winning the segregationist vote, Republicans needn’t be afraid to say that.”

Democrats, of course, are greeting all this turbulence with unabashed glee.

“The Grand Old Party is devolving into the Party of the Troglodytes — seemingly looking to alienate one constituency after another,” consultant and Clinton administration veteran Chris Lehane told the Daily News.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who has overseen an organized effort to broaden the GOP’s appeal to new voters, pointedly noted the vast array of views held by the more than a dozen people looking at the 2016 nomination.

He said Friday at a news conference, without denigrating any one candidate’s views, “We don’t need people in Washington or even at Republican headquarters deciding who the nominee of our party is going to be. It’s up to the people, and I think it makes us stronger.”

Primary contests, of course, are often races to the outskirts of the political spectrum, with the victorious candidates on both sides ultimately tacking back to the center for general election appeal.

Overall, “The Republicans have a much more serious ‘base-versus-general-electorate’ split than the Democrats do," notes Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

“The GOP base insists that the Republican presidential candidates condemn the Supreme Court decision — and they do, with some fervency. But 57% of the electorate favors gay marriage, and 75% or more of young voters do,” Sabato said.

And therein, he said, lies the problem for the GOP on the marriage issue — and perhaps more broadly looking ahead to 2016 and beyond.

Once the battle line is drawn, he said, “There’s no obvious way for the eventual Republican nominee to retreat for the fall — and Democrats are handed a hot issue to use to the fullest.”