In an article about Oakland County in MIchigan:
During his two years as county GOP chairman, Patterson sought to attract more moderate and independent voters by downplaying opposition to abortion and gay rights. The attempt caused a bitter fight between Patterson and archconservatives led by County Commissioner Tom McMillin.
“The party’s got to broaden its base,” Patterson says. “The moderate voter, the pro-choice voter — they leave, and they’ve left by the thousands.
“I’m a Catholic, I’m pro-life. But I’m also pragmatic. I want to get more voters into our tent.”
I can imagine the type of counsel this guy would give Jesus if he would have been an apostle. "Jesus, you know that bread of life stuff? Well it turns off part of our base. Look at all those who left after your ill-advised speech the other day. The Church should be a big tent if it is going to be universal. And that talk about lust being the same as adultery is just over the top. That type of rhetoric will just never appeal to moderates and your archconservatives views on marriage are just not pragmatic in this real world. Also that author of life stuff will just not play with the pro-choice crowd . If you want to knit people together in their mother’s womb in your off time, fine. Just don’t make a big deal about it. Just tone it down or bit or your going to end up getting killed or something."
