June 20, 2013

Washington Secrets

Tony Perkins urges conservatives to halt GOP contributions, consider third party

BY: PAUL BEDARD MARCH 21, 2013 | 5:32 PM | MODIFIED: MARCH 21, 2013 AT 5:35 PM
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Angered by back-to-back presidential candidates who were squishy on social issues, some conservatives are warming to the idea of a third party while urging activists to stop funding GOP groups.

"I would not give my money to the national party, to the national Republican Party," said Tony Perkins, president of the influential Family Research Council. "I would not give it to the RNC, I would not give it to the Republican Senatorial Committee nor to the Republican Congressional Committee," he added on his new radio show, "Washington Watch."

Rick Santorum, the 2012 conservative presidential candidate considering another run in 2016, called the GOP establishment "detached from the grass roots of America."

What has social conservatives like Perkins and Santorum upset is the Republican National Committee's postelection plan to cool the rhetoric on social issues like same sex marriage.

Perkins, a former GOP House member from Louisiana who has a broad following, said the new Republican agenda might force him to switch his voting registration to independent. "This may push me over," he said, adding that he "might run for office again."

While Perkins said he isn't yet advocating a third party, he said that "there is a high probability that that will happen if the Republicans walk away from these core social issues."

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