What would happen if the GOP becomes secular?

[Shaula🏳️‍⚧️]

Trump has accelerated this more than anyone else, but I've noticed the Republican Party has not put as much of a focus on religious/moral-oriented issues such as gay marriage, abortion and marijuana as they used to a decade ago or even in 2014. Sure some candidates (especially those running in evangelical areas) talk about it, but its not nearly as much of an influence on the GOP as it used to be.
In a hypothetical scenario where the Republican Party becomes a secular-ish party like the democrats, how would this change politics and who would benefit? The GOP would still rally around culture war topics like immigration, race and cancel culture, but would drop the religious/moral rhetoric.
In this hypothetical, the Republican Party is in favor of gay marriage (OTL already supported by most Republicans and Trump), pro-legalizing weed, pro-separation of church and state and just doesn't mention abortion (not being explicitly pro- or anti-, rather letting candidates decide themselves.

I reckon it would help Republicans in New England as well as the Midwest/northern states, but hurt them in the South, and Utah/Idaho.

[TodayJunior]

It’s starting to happen already as the Overton window continues to shift left.

Evangelicals continue to support republicans at the levels they do bc they view democrats as openly hostile to their beliefs and faith in general, however misguided that is. Fear works for them…Always, which is really counter to their overall worldview.

[MarkD]

I can't imagine why a political party that wants to conserve traditional government functions would abandon tens of millions of American voters who want to conserve traditional moral values, but anyway, if it were to happen, then there would probably be a major third party that would spring up.

[Virginiá]

I can't imagine why a political party that wants to conserve traditional government functions would abandon tens of millions of American voters who want to conserve traditional moral values, but anyway, if it were to happen, then there would probably be a major third party that would spring up.

Third parties don't really take in this country. The system isn't designed for it, and heavy competition and the electorate's familiarity with the duopoly usually stops their growth before it truly begins. You might have a few seats in a region party switch or even flip to a new party, but it is doubtful it'll be more than that. Even if it were to happen, eventually the major party coalitions will shift, one of them will figure out how to successfully appeal to the disaffected religious voters, and will eventually absorb most of them into their coalition.

[Gracile]

I think this is pretty likely as the country becomes less religious overall. Trump's move toward emphasizing more secular conservative issues - crime, immigration, political correctness, etc. - was smart because support for those issues is much more far-reaching (esp. to voters who would not otherwise turn out for traditional religious conservative priorities). That said, abortion is one social conservative issue that I doubt the party would abandon anytime soon since that still motivates many base voters (who the GOP still depends on for turnout) and seems unlikely to fall to the wayside in the same way that SSM did. I don't think this would cause any immediate issues, as Trump was still able to bring in culturally conservative voters who were ambivalent about abortion while maintaining the strong support of the anti-abortion wing of the party.

[Alben Barkley]

They might even nominate Donald Trump or something crazy like that.

[GregTheGreat657]

#trends would continue and the South would continue to shift left, while the NE/MW continue to shift right

[MarkD]

I can't imagine why a political party that wants to conserve traditional government functions would abandon tens of millions of American voters who want to conserve traditional moral values, but anyway, if it were to happen, then there would probably be a major third party that would spring up.

Third parties don't really take in this country. The system isn't designed for it, and heavy competition and the electorate's familiarity with the duopoly usually stops their growth before it truly begins. You might have a few seats in a region party switch or even flip to a new party, but it is doubtful it'll be more than that. Even if it were to happen, eventually the major party coalitions will shift, one of them will figure out how to successfully appeal to the disaffected religious voters, and will eventually absorb most of them into their coalition.

Yes, in the current political climate, a third party isn't going to go anywhere. But this thread is asking about a far-fetched hypothetical, and in this far-fetched possibility, anything is possible.