Sen. Lindsay Graham: our Republican brand is tainted

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Sen. John McCain's best friend forever (BFF) – shhh! Don't tell Phil Gramm, he thinks he is – added some more choice criticism of the Club for Growth conservatives in the New York Times today G.O.P. Debate – A Broader Party or a Purer One?

Senator Lindsay Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said: “We are not losing blue states and shrinking as a party because we are not conservative enough. If we pursue a party that has no place for someone who agrees with me 70 percent of the time, that is based on an ideological purity test rather than a coalition test, then we are going to keep losing.”

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Mr. Graham scoffed at the notion that the party was suffering because it was not conservative enough.

“Do you really believe that we lost 18-to-34-year-olds by 19 percent, or we lost Hispanic voters, because we are not conservative enough?” he said. “No. This is a ridiculous line of thought. The truth is we lost young people because our Republican brand is tainted.”