The Ohio Republican Party responded to recent dissent among social conservatives and some Republicans over its desire to shift away from a social message to an economic message.
 
Last week ORP Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine said the party has had a “distracting focus on social issues” and needs to “exchange a fiscal message and an economic message in for the social message that has dominated the messaging of this party for the past decade.”
 
Afterward, two social conservative leaders and two county GOP leaders dissented from DeWine’s statement. Family First Political Action Committee Director Lori Viars called on DeWine to step down from the party’s leadership, while Ohio Right to Life's Mike Gonidakis said DeWine doesn’t understand the party. Hamilton County GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou and Warren County Central Committee Chairman Dan Prince both said they partially disagreed with DeWine.
 
However, John McClelland, party communications director, told PolitickerOH.com that he and DeWine have had generally positive feedback.
 
"I think this uproar is limited to a couple of outspoken people,” he said.
 
McClelland said the party may not precisely trade its social message for an economic message, as DeWine said it needed to do.
 
“I don’t think that’s exactly what the party is going to do,” McClelland said, adding that the party believes it has a better economic message than Democrats, as evidenced by the “Joe the Plumber” saga. However, the GOP needs to further argue that it fits voters’ kitchen-table needs and wants, McClelland said.
 
“The point is not that the party is abandoning any of its traditional social values, but that we need to expand our message to people in our party that are focused on being fiscally conservative, not just socially conservative,” McClelland said. “The issues that people care most about when you ask them are the kitchen-table issues, the fiscal issues, and we need to do a better job of communicating on those points.”
 
When asked if the party has spoken to those who are dissatisfied with what DeWine said, such as Viars and Gonidakis, McClelland declined to answer. However, he encouraged those concerned about the party’s direction to let it know.
 
“We encourage anyone if they ever have a question about an issue, give us a call,” he said.