After an embarrassing cycle for the GOP in 2012 — from a clown show of a presidential primary season that saw the likes of Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain as temporary frontrunners, to Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock and friends mansplaining the intricacies of rape-induced pregnancy — Republicans knew something needed to change. So they commissioned an autopsy report that identified their shortcomings and charted a new course to broaden their appeal.
Then, the GOP promptly took that report and used it as kindling at a giant Tea Party bonfire, and continued on their merry way rightward, to the ever-shrinking base they know and love.
Tonight, the “New GOP” added its latest star: Glenn Grothman, winner of the WI-6 GOP primary.
Here’s an overview of some of Glenn’s greatest hits:
- Argued that John Kerry upset God by trying to stop Uganda’s anti-gay bill
- Attacked Kwanzaa as a “false holiday” that “almost no black people care about.”
- Proselytized about the “war on men” and the impending “suicide of America” if we don’t bring it to a halt
- Fought for a seven-day workweek
- Proposed a law to formally consider single parenthood a contributing factor to child abuse
- Tried to remove a woman’s life exception from a partial-birth abortion ban
- Claimed part of sex education was an attempt to turn kids gay
- Called Planned Parenthood “the most racist organization in America”
Jody Hice, GA-10 nominee:
- Compared women’s health advocates to Nazis, saying “[America’s] murderous dealings are much worse than Hitler’s six million Jews”
- Thinks it’s okay for women to run for public office, provided they do so with the permission of their husbands
- Does not believe Muslims deserve First Amendment protections
- Compared being raised by same-sex parents to “losing mom or dad in a car accident.”
Lenar Whitney, LA-6 candidate (open primary on 11/4)
- Referred to by Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman as “the most frightening candidate” he had ever met
- Wants to jail any employer who hires a non-citizen and institute mandatory minimum sentences for them
- Called global warming “perhaps the greatest deception in the history of mankind” before claiming a ten-year old could disprove it with a thermometer
- When asked if she believed Barack Obama was born in the United States, Whitney said it was a subject of some controversy
Dave Brat, VA-7 nominee
- Not worried about global climate change because “over time, rich countries solve their problems”
- Argued that one of the largest factors in economic growth is “the Protestant religious establishment.”
- Said, “The left does not believe in diversity. They believe in top-down, I’m going to force my way onto you. Obama is forcing un-diversity onto everybody.”
Published: Aug 12, 2014