The media and moderate Republicans, convinced that these issues are the party's weakness and that its libertarian economic ideas are its strength, have interpreted Bush's remarks as a rebuke to Republican Puritanism.
Bush was intending to rebuke Republican Puritanism as he thought it was stupid.
mnli hypothesis: Bush was intending to rebuke Republican Puritanism as he thought it was stupid. premise: The media and moderate Republicans, convinced that these issues are the party's weakness and that its libertarian economic ideas are its strength, have interpreted Bush's remarks as a rebuke to Republican Puritanism.