Editorial, Opinion Pieces Discuss Conservatives' Post-Election Agenda

November 26, 2012 — A recent New York Times editorial and opinion pieces from the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal discussed how Republicans should approach social issues in the wake of this month's election. Summaries appear below.

~ E.J. Dionne, Washington Post: Mitt Romney's loss in the presidential election caused "disarray" in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' post-election meeting because many bishops "had been convinced Romney would win," columnist Dionne writes. He adds that there are some "influential bishops who now want to work with the Obama administration to secure a compromise on the contraceptive mandate under the health-care law," an opportunity that President Obama should "seize." Dionne also argues that if the church wants "to halt defections among so many younger Catholics," it "should understand that casting itself as a militantly right-wing political organization -- which, face it, is what some of the bishops are doing -- clouds its Christian message" (Dionne, Washington Post, 11/25).

~ New York Times: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) "should relent and allow the House to vote" on the Senate version of the Violence Against Women Act, which differs from the House version in its protections for immigrants and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender survivors of abuse, a Times editorial states. It adds, "By refusing to accept the principle of protecting all victims of domestic violence, House Republican leaders are conveying a belief that rapes of gay people and immigrant women are not 'legitimate' rapes, as Representative Todd Akin, the failed Republican candidate for the Senate from Missouri, put it so appallingly" (New York Times, 11/24).

~ Ralph Reed, Wall Street Journal: "A season of soul-searching will be healthy, and it is needed to retool and rebrand the [Republican] party," but "Republicans need not abandon their principles," Reed -- chair and CEO of Century Strategies and chair of the Faith and Freedom Coalition -- writes in a Journal opinion piece. He adds, "[U]nlike the conventional wisdom, social issues properly framed are one of the keys to a stronger, more diverse Republican coalition." He concludes, "Republicans should resist the catcalls urging them to give the cold shoulder to evangelicals and other voters of faith," and, instead, "practice the politics of addition by reaching out" to minority and young voters who "share these same time-honored values" (Reed, Wall Street Journal, 11/25).