Over the last 50 years - and especially since 1980 - the Republican Party has made some serious, significant, and extreme changes in the ideas the party officially supports and opposes.
As the 2012 Republican National Convention rolls on, those changes seem to be shocking more and more middle-of-the-road sensible Americans of all political backgrounds. So, with some help from the New York Times and Washington Post, we've made a simple chart that focuses on just three of the many differences between what the GOP used to be in 1980, and what it means to be a Republican now.
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1980
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2012 |
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Abortion
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While we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general — and in our own party — we affirm our support of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children. | ... we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution ... |
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Elections
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Republicans support public policies that will promote electoral participation without compromising ballot-box security. | ... we applaud legislation to require photo identification for voting and to prevent election fraud ... |
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Unions
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We reaffirm our commitment to the fundamental principle of fairness in labor relations, including the legal right of unions to organize workers and to represent them through collective bargaining ... | We salute the Republican governors and state legislators who have saved their states from fiscal disaster by reforming their laws governing public employee unions. |
If you'd like to see even more differences between Republicans then and now, check out these charts from the New York Times and Washington Post.
