The GOP is in a low point in the "Culture War" (Opinion)

Politico - How Republicans Lost the Culture War

This piece focuses on two issues in the "culture war" between liberals and Christian conservatives: women's reproductive rights (contraception and abortion) and homosexual rights (in this case, marriage). How is it that the GOP has lost? Gay marriage is soon to be legal for over half the US population (according to the states where it is either legal or soon to be), and regarding abortion, current GOP candidates are refining and "recalibrating" their message to be softer. (There is likely going to be some debate as to whether these candidates' messages constitute a trend.) Perhaps the changing electorate makes this loss explainable, but the argument is that 3 major errors over the past 20 years lead to a GOP loss on these social issues:
1. The GOP stopped trying to find weak points in liberal positions and hammer them and instead tried for all-out victory. The GOP had pursued an incremental strategy of limiting and circumscribing abortions during the Clinton era, but accelerated as the GOP took control of Congress and the White House. The incremental strategy was "abandoned" during Obama's presidency due to the extreme reaction the GOP had to Obama. Instead, a focus on ideological purity became prevalent. Thus the roles reversed: GOP candidates were seen as having incoherent or uncompromising views and it was the Democrats turn to hammer on them.
2. The GOP lost its way on birth control: interestingly the same mandated coverage that the GOP either tolerated or advanced during the GW Bush presidency was renounced when it became part of the ACA. Again, author attributes this to the negative reaction to Obama.
3. The GOP made the wrong bet on gay marriage. While the gay marriage issue propelled GOP voter turnout in 2004 for GW Bush, it was entirely predictable that attitudes against it would wane, especially with younger and more urban voters. Continuing to oppose this was a loser for the GOP, yet they held on to it well past when it was tactically fortuitous.