WASHINGTON — Two fresh faces in the Republican Party — House Speaker Paul Ryan and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley — are offering messages of diversity and openness to immigrants that could answer the GOP establishment's increasingly desperate search for an antidote to the loud pronouncements of presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
Delivering the GOP rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday, Haley, a daughter of Indian immigrants, called for welcoming legal immigrants as long as they're properly vetted and resisting "the siren call of the angriest voices.''
She acknowledged Wednesday that her comments were partly aimed at Trump, telling NBC's ''Today Show'' that ''Mr. Trump has definitely contributed to what I think is just irresponsible talk.''
Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican beginning his third month as speaker, has been pledging to offer a bold agenda to position the GOP as a positive alternative to Obama and the Democrats. Last weekend, he helped convene an antipoverty summit with some of the GOP presidential candidates — Trump was absent — and pressed for ''a safety net that is designed to help get people out of poverty.''
Such rhetoric from two young and charismatic officeholders cheers establishment Republicans who fear the rise of Trump and of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, with their frequent strong words on immigrants in the country illegally, could ruin the GOP for years, eliminating any chance of winning the White House if either is the nominee and turning off swing voters, minorities, and women.
''Speaker Ryan and Governor Haley provide an important contrast, particularly with independent voters, to show what the Republican Party is really about, and it's not about Donald Trump,'' said Brian Walsh, a Republican strategist. ''The key, though, is continuing to shine a light on leaders like the two of them, and that will depend in part on who we nominate.''
Whether Haley or Ryan can do anything to sideline Trump or Cruz remains to be seen. That's not their explicit goal, and Haley, in particular, drew a backlash from some conservatives for her State of the Union rebuttal. ''Trump should deport Nikki Haley,'' conservative talk host Ann Coulter said.
At the Capitol, Haley's comments were being interpreted by conservatives, including Representative Steve King of Iowa, a Cruz supporter, as a call for unlimited legal immigration, something they reject.
''I keep trying to remember when a principled conservative has been given the opportunity to provide that rebuttal,'' King told reporters, adding that Haley's comments would indicate she's not one.
''They are looking for someone who fits the profile that they want to be the face of the Republican Party and that's the rationale,'' King added later, speaking of party leaders. Asked if he would want Haley as the face of the party, King said laughingly: ''I think she's beautiful so I'd be happy if she's the face of the party.''
Trump criticized Haley on ''Fox & Friends'' as ''very weak on illegal immigration.''
Yet Haley and Ryan's messages are not too different from what has been heard from some of the mainstream presidential candidates, notably former Florida governor Jeb Bush. But Bush and other establishment Republicans have struggled to break through, while Ryan and Haley, as prominent elected officials in their own right, have their own platforms.
''What Paul Ryan is trying to do is put forward a substantive, thoughtful policy agenda for the country,'' said moderate Representative Charlie Dent, Republican of Pennsylvania. ''Every presidential candidate should be doing the same thing.''
Still, party leaders are mindful that Trump and Cruz are channeling real voter anger and a backlash against Washington.
Haley's standing with conservatives is not likely to benefit from the White House decision on Wednesday to praise her, with press secretary Josh Earnest saying she deserved credit.
However, Ohio Republican chairman Matt Borges said Trump's approach could become a liability.
''No Republican has won the presidency without winning Ohio, and you cannot win Ohio with a divisive message,'' Borges said as the Republican National Committee convened its winter meetings in Charleston, S.C.