DOMA Included in GOP Purity Test

A so-called purity test of conservative principles being circulated for consideration among Republican National Committee members includes a commitment to retain the Defense of Marriage Act.

The proposed test, reported by MSNBC's First Read, outlines 10 conservatives principles, including opposition to "Obama-style government run healthcare"; a rejection of cap-and-trade solutions for global warming; opposition to federal funding for abortion; and retention of DOMA, the 1996 law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Prospective candidates would have to abide by at least eight of the 10, or risk the withdrawal of RNC endorsements and financial support.

News of the proposed test immediately sparked concerns from less conservative quarters that two of the party's best known moderates, Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, would flunk, according to the Atlantic Online.

The stringent proposal arrives weeks after a congressional race in New York's upstate 23rd district exposed profound rifts within the GOP. Grassroots conservatives managed to oust a socially moderate Republican, Dede Scozzafava, from the contest, although Democrat Bill Owens ultimately defeated Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman.

According to First Read, it remains unclear whether the proposal, called the "Resolution on Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates" in reference to the former Republican president, will be formally introduced at the RNC's winter meeting in Honolulu in January.

RNC committee member Jim Bopp Jr., the author of the resolution and general counsel to National Right to Life, told First Read that the purpose of the resolution was to reclaim "conservative bona fides."

Bopp Jr. added that the resolution aims to demonstrate that the party is open to diverse views -- "but you have to agree with us most of the time," he said.