In what may be the most hopeful sign for the Republican Party in many years, House Speaker John Boehner is heading to the Golden State to raise money for openly gay candidate, Carl DeMaio.  This, despite protests from the Family Research Council and National Organization for marriage.  These groups wrote a letter stating that, “Carl DeMaio, is antithetical to the Republican platform.”  It states that “Mr. DeMaio supports and aggressively advocates for the redefinition of marriage, and welcomed the judicial activism of the federal courts which stripped the people of California of their votes in support of maintaining marriage as the union on one man and one woman.”  In response, DeMaio said in a phone interview that, “I’m disappointed but not terribly surprised that some extreme far right groups would rather lose elections than win elections, and have been very destructive for so many years within the Republican Party.”  It is becoming clear that at last, there is a growing understanding within the GOP that if the party is to ever again win the Presidency, it will have to become a more inclusive, welcoming, party.

This is great news for Republicans because of the strong belief that the GOP is more successful in dealing with national and international issues.  That will not happen if the party allows the extremist, one issue factions to have an inordinate amount of control over the platform, direction and decision-making.  Gay marriage is inevitable just like a woman’s right to vote in 1920 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  It’s called Progress!  Why can’t conservatives be Progressive?  Conservatives should be concerned with being the party of change and not the party of what used to be.  It should be the party of prosperity and leadership.  Not the party of the old guard.  The GOP has allowed the Democratic Party to be the Progressive Party and that shouldn’t be the case.  The GOP under the former President Bush should have been the force of change in Healthcare and Immigration reform.  Instead, they failed miserably.  These are not partisan issues but issues that effect all Americans.

Hopefully, John Boehner’s support of DeMaio along with the National Republican Congressional Committee will at last be what the GOP needs to bring back voters to the party.  The NRCC has given over $2 million to the DeMaio campaign to help unseat Freshman Representative and Democrat, Scott Peters.  NRCC spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement that, “Our decisions on the Republican nominees we support will not be based on race, gender or sexual orientation, but will be based on the strength of their candidacy and their ability to defeat Democrats.”  That’s the most important statement released by any individual or group in the GOP in years.  It might actually set the stage for a Republic Party rebirth which is just what the country needs to steer it back in the right direction after the two term, failed Presidency, of Barrack Obama.

There is no doubt that in the eyes of the world, the United States, under this President, has lost it’s credibility as leader of the free world.  President Obama owns that and only a Republican can change it.  What’s so ironic is that Obama believed and convinced his followers that he was the first, best hope for returning America’s credibility in the eyes of the world.  Instead, he now holds the title of Mr Drone.  Make no mistake, despite the media silence on the topic, hundreds if not thousands of innocents have been and are being killed as a result of the drone strikes.  Not that drones shouldn’t be used for surveillance and strikes when necessary, but it runs contrary to everything we were led to believe his Presidency would be about.  It’s truly ironic.  He was going to bring Iran and North Korea on to the side of the “good guys.”  He was going to “teach the world to sing in perfect harmony”.  He was going to end the embargo on Cuba.  He just signed on for another year.  Fantasy wrapped in a dream!

If the Republican leadership plays its cards correctly, eliminates its divisiveness and finds a legitimate candidate for President, it’s possible that 2014 and 2016 might be the years of the GOP.  DeMaio is one of three openly gay GOP candidates running for Congress in November.  The other two being Richard Tisei from Massachusetts and Dan Innis of New Hampshire.  Of the three, DeMaio has the best chance of victory.