Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said Tuesday that the Republican Party’s efforts to win over women and minority voters have failed. Jeanne Kuang/Meill
WASHINGTON — Despite the Republican Party’s efforts in the past year to rebrand itself, it has only further distanced itself from a more diverse voter base, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Tuesday.
“Their policies are simply out of step with the majority of American voters,” Schultz, D-Fla., said at the National Press Club. She added that she is confident the Democrats will maintain their majority in the Senate during midterm elections this fall, despite what many Republicans and low approval ratings suggest.
Schultz criticized Republicans for their inability to relate to minorities and women, citing “outrageous proposals” in policy and calling out prominent Republicans for their controversial statements towards women, African Americans, Hispanics and the LGBT population.
“Their words are patently offensive, but their policies are even more offensive and disrespectful,” Schultz said.
Last March, the Republican National Committee released its Growth and Opportunity Project — commonly known as its “autopsy” report — that examined the party’s platforms and its appearance as out of touch with many Americans. The report harshly criticized the party for “driving around in circles on an ideological cul-de-sac” and called for efforts to better engage racial minorities, younger voters and women.
Wasserman called it a “rare moment of self-awareness,” saying that the Republican Party had finally admitted to “alienating huge swaths of voters.”
On Monday, the one-year anniversary of the report, the RNC released a follow-up checkup that was fairly optimistic about the progress made since then.
“One year after the release of the Growth and Opportunity Project report, we’re glad to see Republicans are doing things differently,” the 2014 report said. “They’re not ‘doing the same thing,’ and we can begin ‘expecting different results.’”
But in her “autopsy of their autopsy,” Schultz said the party hasn’t made any of the improvements it set out to do last year.
“No matter the state, no matter the demographic, no matter the region – the GOP rebrand has failed to make any substantive change that will make them any more successful at the ballot box than they were in 2012,” she said. “As you can see from this report, our best weapon may just be Republicans themselves.”
