NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Republican strategist and pundit Dick Morris dismissed Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's new budget Thursday, charging changes to Medicare in the plan will result in a decade of GOP electoral losses.
"I think he makes one fundamental mistake. Only about 5 to 7 percent of the cuts come from the Medicaid program" and instead focuses on Medicare, which is extremely popular with seniors, Morris said during a speech at the annual CPAC convention here.
"Why lose 10 years of elections to mess with those programs. So what if we don't get to zero?" he said of the budget, insisting the party will sacrifice its electoral success to produce a budget that quickly balances the nation's books.
"Lets get away from the hypnotic phrase balanced budget and stop being accountants," Morris added.
Morris also urged the party lost the 2012 election "because of demographic mathematics," pointing to massive deficits in support amongst gay, black, latino and single white female voters.
"Add 'em up and before the first vote was counted we'd lost 40 to 11… It's this kind of identity politics that has cemented the Obama coalition," Morris said.
To begin undoing that deficit, Morris argued the party should shift its stances on two key issues: immigration reform and abortion.
On immigration, Morris said "we need to pass immigration reform right now," warning that "the problem is [latino voters] don't consider the Republican Party because they think we're racist … once you over come that kind of thinking there is a tremendous basis of support" for Republicans.
On abortion, Morris also called for a shift, saying that while Republicans should not abandon their pro-life positions, they need to come to terms with the fact that "we're never going to win" court fights.
Rather, Republicans need to move "from the courts to the realm of practical reality… lets instead focus on reducing the number of abortions" through contraception, parental notification laws and adoption, Morris said.