Newt to NYT: GOP Must Moderate on Gay Marriage Issue

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich now believes the Republican Party will become “irrelevant” if the GOP does not moderate on gay marriage issues. Gingrich previously said he would fight for a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage when he wanted to win the Republican nomination.

He made these comments to the New York Times, a paper he has often derided as being a part of the mainstream elite he supposedly abhors.  When asked how Republicans should deal with the gay marriage issue, Gingrich told the paper: “Walking around and pretending it doesn’t exist just means you’re going to become irrelevant.”

The article also quoted former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who will become president of Purdue University when his term ends next week. Daniels infamously called on Republicans to have a “truce” on social issues that are dear to a considerable segment Americans. 

“Republicans will get their mojo back when they define themselves as the party of economic growth and upward mobility,” Daniels told the Times, in comments that are significant because they do not mention social and cultural issues and thus are widely quoted in liberal publications.