LAT: GOP Sees Outreach Potential in Agenda (Mehlman tells party leaders) [View All]

GOP Sees Outreach Potential in Agenda
By Peter Wallsten, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — President Bush's plans to overhaul Social Security and enact other sweeping policy changes are making some Republican lawmakers uneasy about the political risks. But the party's new chairman said Wednesday that the White House agenda actually could "broaden and deepen" the GOP's dominance by attracting new voters, including young people and African Americans....

***

"When we push to save Social Security, we have an historic opportunity to bring more young Americans into our party," Mehlman said, referring to Bush's proposal to let workers put some payroll taxes into private accounts. "If you're 30 years old or younger and you care about a secure retirement, the Republican Party has a plan for you."...

***

"When we debate who should sit on the judiciary, we have an opportunity to deepen the GOP by registering to vote men and women who attend church every week but aren't yet registered voters," he said. "We can bring new African American faces and voices into our party when we debate whether faith-based organizations should have a seat at the table and whether public schools need to be more accountable and parents need more choices.

"We can deepen the GOP by identifying and turning out Americans who vote for president but miss off-year elections and agree with our work for a culture of life, promotion of marriage, and belief in our 2nd Amendment heritage.

"And," he concluded, "we can bring new Latino doctors, accountants and teachers tired of frivolous lawsuits into our party as we debate lawsuit reform."...


(The article also states: "A report in The Times on Tuesday detailed how some faith-based funding was directed to black religious leaders who backed Bush. The rise was sharpest in battlegrounds where the faith-based program was highlighted — particularly in Ohio, where Bush's share of the black vote rose from 9% to 16%.")


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rnc20jan20,0,4631485.story?coll=la-home-nation