Republican Party No Longer Touts Faith, Values?
The Republican Party has long been the party to tout the “family values” and “faith” cards. As the party that courts the Christian Right, it would no doubt be profitable to do so. However, a recent makeover of the GOP website suggests that the party is aiming to cut ties with its claim to values and faith.
The Republican National Committee’s website, GOP.com, no longer lists “Faith” or “Values” among its “most important issues.” According to the Daily Caller, the “Faith & Values” tab disappeared during the 2009 site-redesign campaign and has failed to be brought back. This disappearance ironically comes at a time when most GOP hopefuls are making it a point to claim their spirituality as a driving force for their faith and social issues.
Recently, Tim Pawlenty has released campaign ads that play up his evangelical faith. In one video, Pawlenty discusses his conversion from Catholicism to an evangelical faith. Sarah Huckabee, Gov. Mike Huckabee’s daughter, now works for Pawlenty and is aiming to convince voters that he has the same spiritual foundation that so many people loved about her dad.
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While many candidates like Pawlenty are playing up their faith, the GOP website is playing it down. The Daily Caller (DC) reports that since 2004, the GOP website kept “faith” and “values” as a prominent part of their online platform. In 2005, these two issues were also kept on the front burner as President George W. Bush successfully advocated for faith-based organizations to keep competitive federal grants.
RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski told the DC that such an omission was completely unintentional.
“They’re not really missing,” Kukowski told DC. “Under the previous administration in ’09, GOP.com was totally redone.”
She goes on to say that adding the tabs back to the website is not a top priority, mainly due to budget restrictions. Kukowski continues by saying “faith” and “values” are still a large part of the party platform and that “Nobody is characterizing that faith and value aren’t a part of what we do.”
The DC reports that while “faith” is mentioned 12 times in the 60 page platform available online, its references are significantly lower than before 2008 when references to God, faith, and values were more common.
Kukowski said that the GOP will re-examine its website in the coming months.
