The GOP’s Steve King Problem
Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee released a 100-page report detailing how the GOP needed to retrofit its agenda and soften its tone. But if Republican officials had wanted to save time, they could have issued a shorthand summary that read: Be less like Steve King.
The Iowa congressman’s outspoken conservatism embodies the kind of politics that, in the RNC’s own words, alienates minorities, young voters, and moderates, the very people the GOP desperately needs to bring under its tent. That immigration reform brings out King’s most incendiary rhetoric is especially troublesome, because regaining popularity among Hispanic voters is the party’s biggest priority heading into 2016.