Indiana law backs GOP hopefuls into a corner

Mike Pence just lobbed a grenade into the Republican presidential field.

The Indiana governor s religious freedom law has ignited yet another controversial culture war debate that has Republican contenders juggling awkward questions about issues they would just as soon not touch.

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This time around the policy issue isn t same sex marriage it s about nondiscrimination laws and whether they should accompany Religious Freedom Restoration Acts like the one just passed in Indiana.

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But regardless Republicans are getting pummeled over gay rights issues of all sorts and face the familiar dilemma of whether a conservative stance that makes for good politics in a GOP primary will hurt them in a general election.

A New York Times editorial called Indiana s law a cover for bigotry and said nobody is fooled by conservatives misdirection as to the law s purpose. Video of Rand Paul calling homosexuality a behavior surfaced on BuzzFeed. And a Democratic governor used the term bigot to describe Pence and by extension the potential 2016 candidates lining up behind him who so far include Jeb Bush Bobby Jindal Ted Cruz Marco Rubio and Rick Perry.

There s no rational discussion going on ideological voters of all types only hear what they want to hear and candidates have to be careful about what they are saying so as not to offend the base in the 15 seconds or 140 characters they might use to engage on the issue said Rob Stutzman a California based GOP strategist who was once a crusader against gay marriage but has since moderated on the issue. On the other hand you don t want to completely stake out a position that creates a problem for you in the general election.

Many Republicans see a distinction between supporting RFRA and opposing gay rights more broadly. And they know that backing the measure is good politics with evangelical voters. Among social conservatives there s deep distress over the sense that there s been a political and cultural shift away from public expressions of religion under the Obama administration (they point for example to the Obamacare contraception mandate).

But to the rest of the public the Indiana measure is inextricably tied to gay rights and many see it as inherently discriminatory.

A former Mitt Romney aide noted that many of the candidates would prefer not to engage with the gay rights issue at all. But when another prominent member of the party steps into a controversial issue it reverberates across the field he said. This is certainly not a topic Republicans want to have to talk about.

For Democrats Pence s move offers another chance to paint Republicans as religious extremists on the wrong side of history. And for pro LGBT groups it s an opportunity to rally support and to press for new legal protections.

They got some help from a hapless Pence who flubbed an appearance on ABC s This Week when he was unable to answer nearly a dozen yes or no questions on discrimination of LGBT citizens and his plans for clarification.

On Tuesday after two days of major blowback including a steady flow of companies denouncing the law and a front page editorial in the Indianapolis Star newspaper demanding that Pence Fix This Now the Indiana governor buckled saying he had asked the state Legislature to pass a bill clarifying that the new law can t be used to deny services to gay citizens.

But Pence held fast to the two positions that had flummoxed him in his ABC interview support for the RFRA bill and opposition to legislation outlawing discrimination against LGBT people leaving open the possibility that the damage to the Republican brand is not yet done.

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Pro LGBT advocacy groups are confident they have the political wind at their back. The Indiana debate has shown how shocked many Americans are and certainly how shocked many business leaders are that there aren t anti discrimination laws on the books in a majority of states said Marc Solomon national campaign director for Freedom to Marry. For too long politicians have been able to get away with skirting the issue of nondiscrimination without political consequences he said.

Gallup polling confirms that the number of Americans who believe homosexuality is morally acceptable is at an all time high at just under 60 percent up from around 40 in the early 2000s. This support is even more pronounced among millennials.

So each of the Republican 2016 candidates has had to wrestle with accommodating a conservative base that s increasingly at odds with the general public.

Bush took a moderate line underscoring his strategy of running a general election campaign even before the primaries He denied that the Indiana measure was discriminatory and echoed Pence s argument that Democrats like Bill Clinton had backed similar measures in the past. This is really an important value for our country in a diverse country where you can respect and be tolerant of people s lifestyles but allow for people of faith to be able to exercise theirs he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Cruz was typically combative lamenting President Barack Obama s concerted assault on the First Amendment and lionizing Pence for fighting for millions of courageous conservatives a phrase that peppers his campaign speeches.

Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina took a technocratic approach telling CNBC that everyone needs to step back and cool off. Asked about tech CEOs condemnation of the law she responded It s not in any company or particularly a technology company s interest to discriminate.

But none of the Republican candidates has yet figured out how to support RFRA and oppose classifying LGBT people as a protected class without opening themselves up to attack.

Today s press conference only complicates things for nearly every potential 2016 GOP candidate Democratic National Committee press secretary Holly Shulman said in a statement emailed to reporters one of four DNC emails on this topic thus far. Pence Jeb Bush Marco Rubio Scott Walker Rand Paul and every potential 2016 GOP candidate still have one simple question to answer she said. Should businesses be allowed to discriminate against the LGBT community I think we already know their answer.

Democrats may see an opportunity but the flap over the Indiana law is unlikely to be devastating the former Romney aide said noting that the controversy is happening early in the presidential cycle.

But he drew a parallel with Romney s support for aspects of a controversial Arizona immigration law that was helpful in the GOP primary but ultimately a major liability in the general election. We d rather be talking about Hillary Clinton emails than the Indiana law the former aide said. It s a distraction.

Gregory Angelo executive director of Log Cabin Republicans said the controversy surrounding Pence will ultimately push his party to support anti discrimination laws for LGBT people just as they have been pushed to moderate their stances on same sex marriage.

The Indiana state Legislature has just handed Democrats a gift on a silver platter by forcing Republicans to take a stand on anti discrimination protections that they d rather not talk about Angelo said.

He did note one exception Of all the candidates out there it seems like Scott Walker is the one who might be able to wiggle out.

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Wisconsin already passed an anti discrimination law under a Republican governor decades ago.