The 10 biggest GOP rebranding fails of 2013

[DonViejo]

From cutting food stamps to "calves the size of cantaloupes" -- the 10 worst moments of the GOP's 2013 rebranding

ELIAS ISQUITH

In March of this year, just a few months after the party’s drubbing in the 2012 elections, the Republican National Committee released its much-anticipated “autopsy” report. The goal of the report was to explain the GOP’s 2012 failure and to recommend changes the party could make to improve its chances in the future. On both counts, the authors concluded, the answer was inclusiveness — or the lack thereof. If the GOP were to stay competitive on the national level, it would be necessary to change the way many voters (young and Latino ones, especially) saw the party. And in order to do that, the Republican Party would, as the authors put it, have to “stop talking to itself.” It was time to rebrand.

Nine months later, however, it’s hard to conclude that the GOP’s rebranding effort has been anything other than an abysmal failure. On issues ranging from race to religion to reproductive rights to sex, the Republican Party has proven itself to be the chief political home of bigots, reactionaries, Neanderthals and cranks. Far from being the beginning of a new, better, more inclusive Republican Party, 2013 has proven to be the year of the Republican rebranding fail. And while there was a nearly endless number of rebranding fails to choose from, these 10 are the ones that, in retrospect, really stood out.

10. Sue Everhart, Georgia GOP chair: Gay marriage is unnatural and will lead to fraud. :::snip:::

9. Rep. Marlin Stutzman on the government shutdown: “We’re not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.” :::snip:::

8. Rep. Stephen Fincher cites the Bible to defend cutting food stamps. :::snip:::

7. Rep. Trent Franks: “The incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.” :::snip:::

6. Rep. Louie Gohmert: “We know that people that are now being trained to come in and act like Hispanic when they are radical Islamist.” :::snip:::

5. The Republican National Committee tweets: “Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in ending racism.” :::snip:::

4. Rep. Don Young: ”My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes.” :::snip:::

3. North Carolina county precinct chair Don Yelton: ”If [the state's new voter ID law] hurts the whites, so be it. If it hurts a bunch of lazy blacks that want the government to give them everything, so be it.” :::snip:::

2. Rep. Steve King: “For every [DREAMer] who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.” :::snip:::

1. The conservative majority of the Supreme Court guts the Voting Rights Act :::snip:::

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/30/the_10_biggest_gop_rebranding_fails_of_2013/