From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Is the grand old party showing its age?

Hello again, I'm on Al-Me, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

It's conventional wisdom that the Republican Party is dominated by Christian conservatives.

As a Republican candidate for president, Mitt Romney has different positions on key social issues

than he did as governor of liberal Massachusetts.

But Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain are ahead in Republican Party polls despite liberal views on issues like abortion and stem cell research.

On to the point, will that change with greater exposure?

Or has the formula that made George Bush President lost its luster for 2008?

On reporter's notebook letter on, gasoline prices are going up.

Now, so is the price of food.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation

and the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation. Hello again,

Mormon Alney, back with To the Point. In their second debate last night, ten candidates refined their

arguments for the Republican presidential nomination. On To the Point, will success in the

primaries depend on the Christian right? What about moderates and independence in the general election?

Will the GOP need a broader appeal than the one that elected George W. Bush?

On reporter's notebook, what's the reason for rising food prices?

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