The 'stupid party': Is GOP's concern what's said or how it's said?

Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and former party chief Haley Barbour disparage anew 'stupid' comments about rape and abortion by a few GOP candidates. It's hard to tell if the concern is mainly about style or substance.

By Liz Marlantes,?Correspondent / January 25, 2013

In this file photo taken last July, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks in Hot Springs, Ark. Jindal called on the GOP to 'stop being the stupid party,' at a gathering Thursday of the Republican National Committee (RNC) in Charlotte, N.C.

Danny Johnston/AP/File

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It's the stupidity, stupid.?That's essentially the warning to fellow Republicans from party heavyweights like former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Skip to next paragraph Liz Marlantes

Correspondent

Liz Marlantes covers politics for the Monitor and is a regular contributor to the Monitor's political blog, DC Decoder.

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At a gathering Thursday of the Republican National Committee (RNC) in Charlotte, N.C., Governor Jindal ? a potential presidential candidate in 2016 ? called on the GOP to "stop being the stupid party." "I'm serious," he added. "It?s time for a new Republican Party that talks like adults.... It's no secret we had a number of Republicans that damaged the brand [last] year with offensive and bizarre comments. I'm here to say we?ve had enough of that."

Mr. Barbour, a former RNC chairman, made essentially the same charge Friday on "CBS This Morning," saying comments about rape and abortion in the past election cycle from several Republican Senate candidates hurt the entire party. "The comments they made were stupid comments, offensive comments, and in today?s world when a candidate in one state says something, the negative effect of that can spill over to other candidates," he said.

Both men were referring to the much-publicized, and much-derided, remarks of former Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri ("if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down") and former Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock ("even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, it is something that God intended to happen").

The comments contributed to ? and may have been responsible for ? Republican Senate losses in states that the party otherwise had very good chances of winning. Moreover, the media attention they received may even have played a part in Mitt Romney's loss to President Obama, by turning some moderate women from the Republican Party.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/f1RZuvtsG4Y/The-stupid-party-Is-GOP-s-concern-what-s-said-or-how-it-s-said

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