"When it comes to his beliefs, if they think for one second they can put some kind of moderate/liberal judge on the Supreme Court that believes in abortion or believes that marriage is between two people of the same sex – you know, fake marriage – if they think he would vote for that, he's not going to budge." Dean Young, longtime adviser to Alabama candidate for U.S. Senate Roy Moore spoke those words in an interview this week. Like many, I cringed.

Not because I begrudge people having deeply held convictions about abortion and homosexuality, which in many cases are informed by their faith. I cringed because of the dismissive and hostile way that he referenced the marriages of many people in this country who take their vows quite seriously and are, in fact, married in the eyes of the U.S. government.

Moore is a Republican candidate running against incumbent Republican Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed by Alabama's governor to fill the open seat vacated by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Moore is best known as the former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court who was forced from the bench because of his refusal to remove a display of the Bible's 10 Commandments from his courtroom. Many God-fearing conservatives in Alabama regard him as a hero for his devotion to the word of God. Others view his insistence on displaying a religious symbol of the laws of God in a place where the constitution is the ultimate rule of law as an act of defiance. I have often wondered if those supporting Moore would support a Muslim judge displaying a religious symbol of the Quran's supremacy in his courtroom. I doubt it.

My impression of Moore is that of a candidate who, based on his public statements, longs for the America we see on shows like Leave it to Beaver. That show depicts a time when men were the heads of the house, women knew their place and children didn't question, they just obeyed. A time when homosexuality was whispered about but never displayed publicly. A time when women didn't pursue careers but stayed home, kept the house clean and had dinner on the table for their man. All with perfect hair, high heels on her feet and a string of pearls around her neck. My impression is that the preacher dad of Ariel in the movie Footloose could have been based on Roy Moore.

And I don't think I'm alone. I think a lot of younger voters and female voters will share that view when they get to know Mr. Moore.

This is a problem for the Republican Party. For the last 5 years, I have been sounding a warning bell for Republicans. That if we as a party don't do more to reach women, minorities and millennials then we will find it hard to win national elections. I don't believe that being the party of old, white, cranky, rich men is a long-term recipe for success. Admittedly, I miscalculated in 2016. I didn't see how Hillary Clinton was repelling voters that she needed to win in key states. Significant numbers of voters who had made the Obama coalition – African-Americans, working class white voters, Latinos – either stayed home or came out for Trump because they didn't like her, didn't trust her and didn't believe she represented their concerns. Many more bought into Trump's idea of American greatness, rejection of political correctness and his willingness to flip off the Washington establishment. The planets aligned and an old, white, cranky, rich man found his way to the White House.

But there is no indication that Trump's cult of personality provides a winning formula for long term success for the GOP.

The Republican coalition is getting older and whiter just as the general electorate is getting a lot more vibrant and colorful. Many Republican voters, and even Democratic voters, were adamantly and angrily opposed to gay marriage 10 years ago. But today their views have softened. They may still oppose it or feel uncomfortable with it, but most of them have a family member or close friend who is openly gay, maybe even married to their partner. They might still vote for a candidate who opposes gay marriage but probably don't appreciate their friend or family member being disparaged or belittled in the public square. Sadly, this rhetoric about fake marriage was not disavowed by candidate Moore.

Roy Moore speaks during a forum on Aug. 3, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images)

In fact, Moore seems to embrace a 1950s Baptist Sunday School view of America and demands that everyone subscribe to that vision or keep quiet. But this vision of America doesn't make room for minorities, career minded independent women, gay people or others who were outside of the 1950 mainstream. I know a lot of Republicans and even some independents who voted for Trump in 2016 because they believed he would "shake things up" and that he was "better than Hillary." And Trump did himself a favor in the general election by not engaging in a culture war with Clinton that might have forced those on the moderate to liberal side of abortion rights and gay rights to reject him as a candidate. A Republican Party that is already carrying significant baggage brought on by the president, cannot afford to reignite the culture wars with hateful, divisive rhetoric directed at those who disagree with them.

Moore may win the primary, in spite of the fact that even Trump has rejected his candidacy. And if he does, he will likely win the general election too. If so, he will become another face of the Republican Party that repels many voters nationally. Not insignificantly, this will embolden Steve Bannon and his Breitbart cronies who are willing to take on the president who gave them their power and their stage, and continue their takedown of the Republican Party. All of those things are bad for the GOP in the long term.