Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire says the GOP must move beyond crying about losing elections, and embrace a more inspirational message if the party hopes to bring more voters into the fold.
Mr. Sununu, speaking Friday at the National Rifle Association’s annual gathering in Indianapolis, said the Republican Party must grow if it hopes to win, and can follow the lead of New Hampshire - the “Live Free or Die State.”
“When we are always yelling at each other, we are not going to get it done,” Mr. Sununu said. “I get nervous about 2024. If we don’t have those independents, if we don’t have those folks back on the team, those disenfranchised voters, it ain’t going to happen for us.”
Mr. Sununu has been flirting with running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. He has been critical of former President Donald Trump’s brand of politics and warned the ex-president cannot win in 2024.
“We can yell and scream all we want, but we want winners, we want winners for tomorrow,” Mr. Sununu told NRA members. “So we have got to be inspirational.”
Mr. Sununu said the GOP wins when it presents a positive, forward-looking message.
“When we share those ideas of true freedom, of true individual responsibility — the team gets bigger, and that is what I want, I want a bigger team,” he said. “You want more members of the NRA? You want more members of the Republican Party? You want more independents getting on board? You want that next generation saying, ’you know what, those are the guys I want to be associated with, those are the guys that are inspiring us to be bigger than ourselves - not just yelling at us all the time.’”
“At the end of the day, we just have to ask ourselves, are we going to sit back and whine about losing in 2024, or are we going to get it done?” he said. “Let’s get it done.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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