Speaking to the Sacramento Press Club this month, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R- Bakersfield, opined that "[t]he Republican Party should embrace a little bit of our libertarianism." If the GOP intends an ascent from the doldrums of powerlessness in California and great electoral victories elsewhere, Republicans should heed the congressman.

In fact, had Republicans taken such advice during last year's presidential election, the Grand Old Party may have elected a few more Republicans to the Senate. In Montana, for example, Republican Danny Rehberg lost by just more than 18,000 votes, while a Libertarian Party candidate won nearly 32,000 votes. Had Republicans corralled some of those libertarian votes, the outcome would have been different.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), right, jokes with House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House Republican leaders address the media after a party conference on March 19, in Washington, D.C.

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To do this, the Republicans must hold the line on economic issues by rejecting bailouts, subsidies, crony capitalism and corporate welfare, but must also change their tone on immigration reform and personal-freedom issues like gay marriage and marijuana legalization.

Yet when pressed on gay marriage and marijuana legalization at the Press Club event, Mr. McCarthy dulled his libertarian luster, citing his support for what he termed traditional marriage and concerns with illegal marijuana farming in his district. While we disagree with his positions, to his credit, the way in which he discussed the issues was respectful.

Even so, there is ample justification for Republicans to embrace principled stances on these issues within party doctrine. In fact, modifications on such positions only strengthen the GOP narrative that it is the party of liberty. A party that prides itself on promoting individual freedom and personal responsibility doesn't need to employ government to define marriage or deny personal consumption.

While California voters passed 2008's Proposition 8 defining marriage as one-man, one-woman, and voted down 2010's Prop. 19 legalizing marijuana, Field polls last month showed 61 percent of Californians support gay marriage and 54 percent favor the outright legalization of marijuana. The debate on these issues is far from over but, as new generations of Americans come of age, it is more likely that public opinion will continue to shift in favor of ending government prohibition on gay marriage and marijuana.

On principle, Republicans ought to focus on being advocates for liberty both economic and social and common-sense policy reform, over policing against moral turpitude. Mr. McCarthy was right in his instincts about a libertarian shift, but the party has to actually embrace some libertarian philosophy if it wants to move forward.

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Editorial: GOP should embrace its inner libertarian