Critiques of GOP members highlight legitimate concerns

AS this election year unfolds and Republicans seek to maintain their control of Congress, party leadership might want to pay some heed to the thoughts of GOP members who have had their fill and are moving on. Sunday’s episode of CBS’s “Face the Nation” offered interesting insight.

The news program interviewed Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Reps. Ed Royce of California, Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida. They all shared varying degrees of concern about the GOP.

Ros-Lehtinen, first elected to the House in 1988, said it would be “foolish to not see that we’re heading into trouble.” She said the Democratic Party has far more females running under that umbrella, and the GOP has no clear program in place to actively recruit minorities.

“So the growth of our party seems to be very limited in a specific group, whereas the demographics of our great country is changing greatly,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “When you look ahead, what’s our future going to be? … I think that we need to look toward the future, and we need to have the policies that attract millennials, women and minorities. I don’t see that.”

Flake echoed that assessment. The GOP’s base has traditionally been older, white voters, but he noted that “every presidential cycle, we are as a country 2 percent less white. … I don’t think that we’ve made enough of an effort as Republicans to appeal across a broader electorate.”

He said it’s difficult for younger voters to identify with the Republican Party, in part because of some of President Trump’s positions and actions. “I think they’re at a dead sprint (away from the GOP) right now, and we’ve got to change that.”

Flake was elected in 2012, after winning 69 percent of the vote in the GOP primary, but has been highly critical of Trump’s policies and comments. He also has been criticized as an “open borders” advocate on immigration. Facing long-shot odds at re-election, he won’t seek a second term this year. “I don’t think I’ve changed that much, but I do think the party has changed considerably,” Flake said.

Royce said he believes there is room for many viewpoints within the party, although Dent disagreed. He contends that while the Democratic Party has “gone kind of full Bernie (Sanders),” Trump has “taken over” the GOP and many members have adjusted their politics to suit him.

“It’s really about loyalty to the man, more than it is about any set of given principles or ideals,” Dent said.

Ros-Lehtinen said Republicans don’t need to change their principles, but the regular framing of issues as either with the president or against him makes it challenging for moderate members.

Royce said the GOP has recruited solid candidates in recent elections, and that needs to continue. But Dent argued the party must be “much broader in our thinking … and show that the welcome mat is actually out and that we want everybody in.”

These insights merit attention, as they’re from longtime Republicans who only wish to see the party succeed and grow.