HONOLULU, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The Republican National Committee, meeting in Hawaii, has rejected a proposed "purity test" requiring candidates to accept eight of 10 conservative principles.
James Bopp, a national committeeman from Indiana, withdrew the proposal Friday, Politico reported. Instead, he supported a resolution urging state party organizations to endorse candidates who support the Republican platform.
Bopp's resolution appeared to be inspired by the Republican debacle last year in the 23rd Congressional District in New York state, The Hill said. A number of high-profile Republicans backed the Conservative Party candidate instead of Dede Scozzafava, a GOP social moderate. Scozzafava withdrew from the race shortly before the election and supported Democrat Bill Owens, who won in a district that had been Republican since the Civil War.
Bopp insisted after the vote that the compromise means the party can only back candidates who support "all the core Republican principles." He got into a shouting match with Bob Tiernan, the party chairman in Oregon, Politico said.
Tiernan insisted the resolution is not binding on state organizations and said the national committee had "rejected the litmus test."
