#1
Posted: 5/17/09 at 3:59pm
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 16, 2009
Filed at 12:46 p.m. ET
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- Republicans can reach a broader base by recasting gay marriage as an issue that could dent pocketbooks as small businesses spend more on health care and other benefits, GOP Chairman Michael Steele said Saturday.
Steele said that was just an example of how the party can retool its message to appeal to young voters and minorities without sacrificing core conservative principles. Steele said he used the argument weeks ago while chatting on a flight with a college student who described herself as fiscally conservative but socially liberal on issues like gay marriage.
'Now all of a sudden I've got someone who wasn't a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for,' Steele told Republicans at the state convention in traditionally conservative Georgia. 'So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.'
As Steele talked about ways the party could position itself, he also poked fun at his previous pledge to give the GOP a 'hip-hop makeover.'
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/05/16/us/AP-US-Steele-Republicans.html?_r=2
Published: May 16, 2009
Filed at 12:46 p.m. ET
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- Republicans can reach a broader base by recasting gay marriage as an issue that could dent pocketbooks as small businesses spend more on health care and other benefits, GOP Chairman Michael Steele said Saturday.
Steele said that was just an example of how the party can retool its message to appeal to young voters and minorities without sacrificing core conservative principles. Steele said he used the argument weeks ago while chatting on a flight with a college student who described herself as fiscally conservative but socially liberal on issues like gay marriage.
'Now all of a sudden I've got someone who wasn't a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for,' Steele told Republicans at the state convention in traditionally conservative Georgia. 'So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.'
As Steele talked about ways the party could position itself, he also poked fun at his previous pledge to give the GOP a 'hip-hop makeover.'
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/05/16/us/AP-US-Steele-Republicans.html?_r=2
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