The GOP’s inability to court the minority vote
A photo by webbmb, a Flickr.com user, shown under Creative Commons
The party of Abraham Lincoln struggles to court the minority vote. For the past several decades, Blacks have supported the Democratic Presidential candidate overwhelmingly. In 2004, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry won 90% of the Black vote. In 2008, the GOP lost 96% of the Black vote and 67% of the Hispanic vote. As Sophia A. Nelson points out in “It’s My Party, But I Don’t Feel Part Of It,” 2008 was “the worst showing for the Republican Party among minorities in its 150-year history.”
How will the party redefine itself moving forward in order to attract the minority vote?
Nelson, a black Republican, says the party must confront its poor relationship with black Americans. In the 2008 GOP convention, only 36 of the 2,000 delegates were black. Former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele, a black Republican, recently said that the Republican party does not concern itself with issues affecting blacks.
Although she identifies herself as Republican, Nelson voted for Obama in 2008 after “struggling with [her] conscience.” In her words, she was dismayed by the “racially coded Republican ads and speeches aimed at scaring working-class and rural white voters about Obama.”
The GOP did do much worse with all minorities this year compared to 2004. The immigration debate was part of it (for Hispanics) and for Blacks the GOP never shows up, if it did it would improve upon the 11% Bush got in 2004.
I think it simply comes down to this idea of getting out the base and not spreading our ideas during elections. The mass majority of blacks and Hispanics are Bible-believing, socially conservative Christians (just look at Prop 8). We need to be going into these Democratic strongholds and show them how conservatism actually works. Just ask them how much the Democrats have helped them. I would think not every much. If we cannot speak to their needs, we will never win. We have to partner with them on education, crime, poverty, and how them the power of the free market. Obama won big on preaching personal responsibility and fiscal responsibility…is this not conservatism 101? When people trust Democrats to be more fiscally responsible than Republicans, no wonder we lost.
I think part of it is the way that Republicans campaign. Republicans put a lot of emphasis on “small town America” and seem to demonize people living in cities as not having real American values or being elitist. This is a dangerous strategy considering most minorities do not live in small towns.
Also, minorities in this country face incredible economic challenges. All too often many Republicans seem to cast poor people as lazy and undeserving and do not understand some of the institutional causes of poverty. Republicans need to present a coherent message on how exactly a conservative philosophy would help alleviate some of the economic burdens. I think this is a lot tougher for Republicans to do in light of the financial crisis.
Republicans rightly or wrongly are seen as as more favoring the rich, being anti-labor, pro tax cuts for the rich, cutting social program spending, opposing universal health care, opposing minimum wage hikes. So the party needs to shed this perception.
A lot of it has to do with the fact that Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights act and liberals championed busing, affirmative action, desegregation. Many of the southern Dems became republicans in protest of civil rights, so perhaps unfairly the conservative movement was seen as being hostile to the civil rights movement.
Lets not forget that Barry Goldwater opposed the civil rights act and was nominated by the GOP. Huge mistake!
I don’t know. Michael Steele says its an image problem - not enough minority faces out there - but I see more black and/or female republicans on TV than I ever have in real life. I’m not sure what he answer is. I don’t think it’s slicing and dicing Americans into narrow racial and socio-economic interest groups and telling them all that we’ll pay special attention to them: that’s the Democrats game. I think the answer has to go back to Lincoln - a house divided against itself cannot stand. We’re all Americans and want to see this country safe and prosperous.
I’m 1/2 Italian and 1/2 Scandinavian and live in CA. Among my friends, the six who are of African descent who told me how they voted…one voted for Obama. She was the one who bought a home she couldn’t afford with no realistic hope of making what she’d need to make two years after signing the loan docs when the interest rate adjusted.
The other five are professionals and business owners. They weren’t buying the bull Obama was selling. They “get,” as Khalil mentions, how the GOP tenets work for them in the business sector and see themselves as “American equals,” not as “minorities.”
I think Joel hit a real chord to help distill the message as we all seem to agree we need to do when he brings up, “How has voting Democrat helped you?” My husband is from Detroit. MI is a great microcosm of the country in regard to minorities and Democratic strongholds. Year after year they vote Democrat only to get screwed over yet again. Without even touching the unions, auto industy, etc. one of the last bills of goods was to sell them that if gambling was legalized the state’s financial woes would go away. WRONG. All it’s done is create a large segment of addicted (many of whom are minorities), unskilled labor pool dependency and new poverty for citizens with profits and benes going back to a few…just like earmarks go to special interests at the national level. The Democratic Party continues to market themselves better than the GOP. That’s where distilling the message and then disseminating it effectively become keys.
Democrats cannot sell their message without SELLING it which means dealer incentives, zero financing, instant rebates, on and on and on. When Republicans do that, they look like used car salesmen. Conservatism sells itself. We must get out of the mindset that we have to be Democrats at their own game. We cannot. We must offer value for the dollar, tried and true engineering, and superior dedication to our product.
Don’t treat minorities like minorities, they are Americans. Looking at them any other way, and we are guilty of a quota system of minority faces on the Republican brand. Approach them as small business owners, entreprenuers, patriotic Americans that serve and lead our armed forces, workers that are the pistons of the American economic engine. School choice is a perfect example of tapping into the discontent among minorities, deliver the equality of opportunity that is true conservatism rather than the promise of equality of outcome promised for decades by liberals.
Especially during this election cycle, I think the Republicans completely alienated many significant groups in the country. Perhaps they thought they didn’t stand a chance with certain social groups and didn’t think to even try to reach out to them? It completely boggled my mind when the McCain Palin team set out to demonize/mock big city folks, community organizers, educated people, and even Arabs(!?). They were trying to WIN this election, right?
As for other elections, I think if the Republican Party does a complete image change, and becomes the party of inclusion, it does have a chance of courting minority voters. And yes, I do believe that if there were more minority leaders in the Republican, including a minority nominee, it could change the party demographics of this country quite a bit.
Tristan,
I don’t understand how Republicans can accuse Democrats of dividing and slicing people into groups when the Republicans have been using divisive rhetoric for the past eight years.
Sara Palin goes to rural North Carolina and says she likes being in the “pro-America” parts of the country. As if other places are Anti-American? That is offensive. And then she says small town America is the “real America” So, I live in DC, are we the fake America? Are we not real Americans?
In 2004, the Republicans set up this whole dichotmoy between middle America and the “coastal elitists.” They made it look like if you lived on the coast, you were somehow un-American or did not share American values. That was incredibly divisive and harmful to the country.
And then McCain’s advisor goes on MSNBC and says McCain is winning in “real Virginia.” Thats what a lot of Republicans do, if you live in a blue area, you’re somehow not a real American. They think they own patriotism and the American ideal.
And don’t forget in the run up to the war in Iraq how Republicans portrayed those who opposed the war as un-patriotic, or somehow immoral.
The Republicans love to use divisive social issues like abortion and gay marriage ( they stopped talking about the day after the 2004 election) for electoral reasons.
Thank you Khalil Ali — occasionally a punch in the gut can be a good thing when it shows you just how exposed your flanks are.
I think that 2000 and 2004 were excellent examples of traditional Democrat/Republican brawls, where both sides attempt to carve out interest groups that are impervious to the arguments of the other side. For democrats, this was pro-choice women, african-americans, union workers, etc. For republicans, this was white male voters, evangelical christians, and anti-abortion voters, etc. The brilliance of Obama in 2008 was to realize that these tactics only work when both sides actively participate in the polarization of America. It’s simple political economics: by seemingly (placing) himself squarely in the middle of the electorate, Obama was able to shave off more moderate/independent voters than he would have been able to if he stuck to the interest group model. Republicans got caught behind the curve (and got rolled by events).
So is the answer to become more moderate? I don’t think so. I think there are significant numbers of moderate and independent voters out there who cast ballots for Obama simply because he was a new face, not because he had a compelling message or philosophy. This leaves room for a strong conservative alternative. But to be compelling, we must be consistent.
Here are some soul searching questions we might ask ourselves: how can we simultaneously be pro-family and anti-gay marriage? How can we be pro-community and abandon the urban black community to permanent poverty? How can we be for careers for women and be anti-abortion? These questions are NOT meant to suggest that any of those positions are antithetical. Instead, they are meant to begin a conversation where we question our basic pieties: if they can’t hold up to basic logical inquiries, maybe we should rethink the way we talk and think about these issues.
The question posed to minorities above, “Has voting Democrat helped you,” reminds me of the question Ronald Reagan asked of the Carter administration in 1980, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
Sadly, most people would say they are not better off now than they were eight years ago. That isn’t a rejection of conservative values; it’s a rejection of our party’s behavior in the past eight years - much of which has been decidedly un-conservative.
The tragedy is that in seeking a leader who will be more responsive to their needs the electorate has chosen a leader who will actually drive the nation further away from the ideals of personal freedom and economic prosperity.
But what other choice were we offering them?
@ Irene – I’m still not positive that McCain actually wanted to win or that Romney wasn’t kept on the bench to sit out the economy. I still have lingering doubts about whether McCain’s was simply a token campaign similar to his being a token Republican. He is to the Republican’s what Lieberman is to the Democrats, the two of them should start their own party imho.
“I do believe that if there were more minority leaders in the Republican, including a minority nominee, it could change the party demographics of this country quite a bit.” If only this were true. The sad fact is that we have minority leadership and they are dismissed by Democrats and “black leaders” as sellouts, Uncle Toms, Oreos and on and on. Thomas Sowell, Alan Keyes, Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, even Powell the RINO yet we’re still a racist party and those minorities are marginalized by members of their own race.
If you truly want racial diversity in the Republican party we must battle at every opportunity the notion of victimhood. So long as we let ourselves be dominated by the prevailing attitude in many minority groups, there will be no room for an “elitist” Republican party. Deliver on the promise of equal opportunity and minorities will grow into a powerful constituency of the party. Sticking minority faces on party posters solves nothing. Changing the culture, farming and grooming opportunity will. WE CANNOT BEAT LIBERALS AT THEIR OWN GAME. Affirmative action in Republican leadership will be the equivalent of removing the political life support it’s currently on.
@ Lockefox
A few suggestions to address your questions. How can we simultaneously be pro-family and anti-gay marriage? Remove the religious aspect from marriage and divorce the two so to speak making marriage a purely ecclesiastical matter and allow states to create contract law in regards to civil unions and let states decide how to classify civil unions and who qualifies to be in a civil union and allow employers the right to extend benefits to heterosexual civil unions or homosexual civil unions. Either way you get the state out of this mess of marriage.
How can we be pro-community and abandon the urban black community to permanent poverty? We cannot cede this ground to Democrats. Democrats have created a built in constituency by offering freebies and handouts and establishment of a welfare class. Republicans must offer community based change starting with education reform. Kick open the door for vouchers and charter schools but don’t abandon them once you’ve got them there, stay on them with oversight and demand performance. Second create enterprise zones around the schools. Bring businesses in, bring leaders and entrepreneurs in and radiating outwards from there. But do not walk away once the infrastructure is there. It must be constantly groomed and seen as a long term investment.
How can we be for careers for women and be anti-abortion? The Republican party must be willing to make the long term commitment to solving this problem. Teach abstinence and safety but remove the stigma of contraceptives. I’m not advocating passing them out in high schools but as a preventative measure, they have to be made as inexpensive and available as possible. For example, provide vouchers to parents of high school kids for contraceptives and then let the parents decide how they want to deal with the subject but in all reality, prevention is far less expensive than the alternatives of either abortion or adoption. (Think small pox vaccines or firearms safety classes) We must offer a give and take so that when we say there is no Constitutional right to an abortion, here are the alternatives instead; we have something more than abstinence to offer.
@ Ted - “That isn’t a rejection of conservative values; it’s a rejection of our party’s behavior in the past eight years - much of which has been decidedly un-conservative.”
I agree completely. We must only comprimise on policy, never principle. When there is a conflict of the two, principle must always prevail. If we are wrong about the policy, we must admit it, unapolegetically so that the American people will always know that right or wrong, conservatives will maintain their principle and that alone will blunt charges against and will win converts. There should be no doubt that Republicans stand for something greater than perpetuating their own power and prestige.
Chris — you read my mind on ALL the issues you brought up. In my mind, your argument taken as a whole is a winning one. Logically, it’s internally and externally consistent and most conservatives could live with it. I think I feel a libertarian resurgence coming on…
@ LockeFox - Thanks for the props. Speaking of a libertarian resurgence… I live in Nevada, and I saw firsthand the impact Ron Paul’s type of Republicanism had.
My take on 2006 and 2008 is look where Conservatives have gone. To the IAP/Constitution Party and to the Libertarian party. I don’t think the country is ready for minarchism but we ignore the impact and philosophies of these parties at our peril.
Republicans that believe in big government or borrow and spend have no place in this party. They belong across the isle or in a third party not the GOP.
But isn’t at least some of it because of (a) the sometimes insular nature of the “base” and (b) the seeming rejection of equal rights, equal pay policies by Republican candidates?
By this, I mean, many supporters at McCain/Palin rallies give Republicans a bad name, from branding Democrats “terrorists” and “unpatriotic” to shouting racial epithets about President-Elect Obama while cameras were rolling. No matter how relevant and agreeable Republican policies may be, it’s hard to want to join a group where some supporters seem ignorant or just plain racist.
Also, the Republican Party’s stance on issues such as equal rights and equal pay are troublesome. For example, lack of support for legislation like the Ledbetter Act, the Equal Rights Amendment, the Violence Against Women Act, the Veteran’s Educational Assistance Act (New GI Bill), etc. makes the party seem like it really only “cares” about the upper middle-class and white men. It’s hard to sell conservatism when it seems like it’s only for a few.
@ newrepublican - Not to put words into UnderCoverGuy’s mouth so to speak, but I think the point he was making as well as myself is that by focusing on issues to “attract” the minority vote we are playing to the audience and consrevatives never win when they politic like that. That’s what liberals do and people have come to expect that liberals deliver that way, and its at least genuine in that respect. When conservatives try to “sell” the brand, we lose.
When Mr. Steele or Jindal has a prominent position in GOP leadership, they do more to send a message to minorites that yes, there is a place for you here, yes, your causes are our causes then to go out and try to sell ourselves.
What we need to do is to start grooming those future leaders from within the minority communities so that the opportunities are availible and their ties to the community remain genuine.
@ undercoverguy - sorry to presume if that’s not where you were going.
I think the main idea here should be creating opportunity in minority communities by demonstrating Republican values rather than simply preaching them or advertising them makes far more of an impression.
School choice is a perfect example. Find a GOP friendly school district in a GOP state, with a high minority student body, open up a private school that accepts parental vouchers and provide oversight but let the teachers off their leashes and teach. Combine this with mandatory parental participation, community involvment and partnerships with community business and watch what happens. We need to walk the walk. This will do more to help the GOP cause than millions spent on targeted advertising.
There won’t be overnight success and a swelling of GOP voter roles but we are not the party of instant gratification. AT ALL COSTS we must avoid the temptation of affirmative action in leadership positions.
I was led to this blog by a link on facebook and I must admit that the comments thus far are quite intriguing. But if Republicans are truly searching for an honest answer to this question - I think you need to look no further than the comments on this page. Unfortunately Republicans (and Democrats for that matter) insist on categorizing Blacks as one single group with perhaps one single thought process. For example, although Khalil made some good points in his 11/23 post, there was still an underlying message that black people = poor people. This is simply untrue. Then when Karen on 11/23 basically stated that out of her 6 Black friends - only the one with the least sense voted for Obama. She’s missed the point that there are obviously (given the percentages) a lot of black people who take care of business and home that also voted for Obama.
Chris Weisman hit the nail on the proverbial nail on the head when he stated that you have to treat blacks/minorities like their Americans - not just black americans but americans who are entrepreneurs, in the armed forces, etc. But I caution that you should not just focus on the “elite” americans who happen to be black - those who have jobs and are considered professionals. If you want real change you will focus on everyone and realize that there are older americans who are black who grew up in the 50s and 60s who have a totally different perspective on politics than those of us who grew up in the 80s. There are blue collar americans who are black just as there are white collars. There are different groups and sects of people in “Black America” who have different beliefs and tendencies just as there are in “White America”. If you continue to believe that we all think alike and that if you can reach a few, you can reach the rest - then your efforts will fail. All black people don’t believe that all black republicans are sell outs - it may simply be a case where a black person disagrees with their viewpoints and refuse to support them on that basis.
Finally, perhaps a trip back into history will help the republican party. Its interesting that when the 15th Amendment was passed, most black voters were republicans. If you really want an answer to your question, look back and see what happened to create the shift from republican to democrat. Most historians tie it to FDR and the New Deal. But if you look closely, you’ll see that the shift occurred when white people (mostly in the south) who were blatantly racist and anti-black began to shift to the Republican Party. I refer you to Norma’s comment of 11/24 - she’s right. What black person would want to be aligned with a party that seems to have so many of its supporters blatantly hate them? Black people watch what you do - and unfortunately - the negative things outshine the positive. Especially here in the South.
BTW: I am black, I am non-partisan (Republicans ignore us and democrats take us for granted), I am a “professional” (I’m an attorney) and I voted for Obama.
sorry for the typos - in a rush
@ Veronica. Thank you for your perspective and insight. I agree that blacks are no more a homogenous group than whites, and that even the labeling of “black” and “white” does just as much dis-service today as it did 200 years ago. In my mind simply a divide and conquer method regardless of which party is using it. Neither party has a monopoly on race manipulation and groups from within both parties have done much to exploit those divides.
As Republicans, factions within have tended to be relatively more overt about it, which in turn has made the prospect of creating a “leadership farming system” in minority communities doomed to failure and have ignored them except in overt pandering which reaps little success.
Meanwhile Democrats have cloaked their disdain for minorities in paternalistic policies and programs designed to keep “blacks on the plantation” thereby maintaining a dependent constituency and thusly take thier votes for granted.
If Republicans want to improve their voter base, it must be at a grass roots level first. If you don’t have cheerleaders (political leadership) at the community level who’s going to get voters from the community to show up for state and national elections to vote Republican? In other words stop looking at people as minorities, implying that somehow the Republican party is different because of its relative melanin percentage. If we are to be an American party, stop using divisions. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not black life, not white liberty, not Hispanic pursuit of happiness. American rights. Platitudes alone are not enough to court any voters much less minorities. Live it, breathe it, and defend it every day. Appalachia and North Las Vegas are as equally entitled to this proposition to Orange County and Dallas. Return to the party of individual freedom and individual leadership and opportunity, and we will grow American support.
I’ve always thought that the Democrats have done a very good job of selling/humanizing their party and reaching out to its constituents, making them feel like they matter. The question now is, how do we as Republicans make our party seem more appealing? We’re the party of hard work, responsibility, tradition, states rights, etc. How can we sell that? If we could figure this out, we could snag the minority vote.
@ Maureen - I think the key is not to sell, show. The old addage updated for American politics would be, give a man a fish and he will vote liberal, teach a man to fish he will BECOME conservative. The more Americans that have something that they EARNED and worked for (i.e., not a house handed to them with a liar loan, more like money returned to workers and investors by getting rid of payroll and capital gains taxes), the more repugnant re-distribution will become. The more repugnant redistribution becomes, the less tolerant society becomes of handing fish to those who are capable of fishing on their own. I think one of the biggest challenges is to actively disavow and fight against Corporatism as it has nothing to do whatsoever with Capitalism and a free market. Until we do so, we will always appear to be hypocritical to minorities and non-minorities alike.
I’m a black Republican woman who loves her party. There is not enough response from the leadership of the Republican National Committee or from statewide party leaders to the truly unpatriotic acts that are being perpetrated by ignorant minds of a latter day and time.
Why aren’t the elders of the Republican Party taking a stand against the racism being displayed on the campaign trail? By saying nothing, they only add fuel to the fire of hate and condone the racial and unpatriotic acts being done in the 2008 run for the presidency of the United States. Someone in the party leadership needs to take a stand against such foolishness. Make it clear that all Republicans are not racists. The Republican Party cannot move forward by remaining silent in these troubled times; silence encourages, in a passive-aggressive way, discrimination, leading me to believe that a decision has been made to win this election “by any means necessary.”
We need to hear more condemnation from the Republican National Committee and its statewide representatives of these unacceptable and unnecessary racial slurs and character attacks cluttering up the airwaves and sullying the pathway to leadership.
As we come to Election Day 2008, we see, hear, witness and feel the social injustice. The Republican Party I love is standing by and saying nothing. Let’s stick with the issues, and let’s not forget our responsibility to the Republican Party. Let’s stop muddying the political waters with racism. Sen. Barack Obama is not different from any other Democrat - raising taxes, taking pro-choice stands, etc. These are the same viewpoints any Democratic presidential candidate has had in the past. Yet this Democrat is a black man.
SHIRLEY HUSAR
Los Angeles
We need to hear more condemnation from The Republican National Committee and its statewide representatives of these unacceptable and unnecessary racial slurs and character attacks cluttering up the airwaves and sullying the pathway to leadership.
Today we are in a twenty-year economic set back. We have Americans who’s life saving have diminished to 1/2 their value, along with the equity on their homes. But just as important is there is a forty-year social set back living today in the hearts and minds of Americans in 2008.
Viola Liuzzo (1925-1965) was the first white woman killed during the American civil rights movement. Inspired by the efforts of African Americans in the South to obtain the right to vote, she left her home in Detroit and participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery, Alabama march for black voting rights in 1965. Viola’s death and many others meant nothing in the struggle for social change in American if we do not nip these issues in the bud.
These issues are like fire ambers,that need to be addressed and put out.
Shirley Husar
As a Texan, I am aware of how prominent the Hispanic population is here. I think the Republican party needs to strive on getting the Hispanic vote… there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to. Hispanics’ cultural and social values are very similar to those of the Republican party. We need to present a clear immigration plan that will get the Hispanic vote.
The Republican Party shares many of the same values as the minorities. Did anybody notice that 98% of Blacks in California cast their ballot for Obama for President and 70% of them went ahead and vote for Proposition 8. If it was not for the strong Black vote for Proposition 8, it would have defeated. Black’s view the social issues such as abortion, prayer in school, and gay rights are right on with the Republican Party. What Republicans need to do is to go to Black Churches and preach that the Republican Party best serves the Black Community. The Republican Party must hold their image of the Party that will defend marriage, the rights of the unborn, and Christianity in our nation. Blacks are the most likely out of all racial groups in our country to be religious. Another good idea would be to get Blacks involved in the ProLife movement. Ever since its founding, the Republican Party has always fought for the opressed. Now the opressed in this country are those unborn. The end of abortion will be the greatest civil rights issue in this nation’s history. One final thing, the Republicans need to nominate more Black candidates. I strongly support the candidacy of Michael Steele for the position of RNC chairman. The DNC has never had a Black as their chairman and we the Republican Party will be the first.
As for Latinos, the Republican Party won 44% of them in 2004. That is how we won the election. We got creamed 2-1 in this election among Latinos. No longer can the Republican Party run up the score with White Voters. The Republican Party cannot outgrow the problem. Latinos are strongly Roman Catholic, who usually decides elections. Whomever wins Catholics wins the White House almost all the time. The Republican part needs to affiliate with the Catholic Church more since the Republican Party better reflects Catholic Social Teaching. The Republican Party better represents Christianity than the Democrats since we are more in touch with the people. The Republican Party needs to campaign to all people in all states. If we do that we will win.
Micheal Steele probably best summed up the problem with GOP’s minority outreach when he told the Washington Times “The problem is that within the operations of the RNC, they don’t give a damn. It’s all about outreach … and outreach means let’s throw a cocktail party, find some black folks and Hispanics and women, wrap our arms around them - ‘See, look at us.’”
Outreach means outreach not showcasing the same old faces to show that the party is diverse. When you do outreach you must do it like you are selling a brand. If the GOP is going to be successful in minority communities it must began to provide everyday solutions to the problems these groups experience. My suggestion would be a real urban institute that focuses solely on urban issues and is made up of people in the community. I would also note that it can not be a policy think tank that parrots whatever the GOP Leadership says. Whats good for Orange County may not always be good for Detroit or Chicago. We need to create an army of urban candidates who are from these areas. When we sent Alan Keyes to Illinois we got Obama and now he is President Elect Obama. Maybe had the Illinois GOP taken the race more seriously and not joked around things may have been a bit different.
If the new GOP strategy for winning the minority vote is to go into these communities attacking gays and abortion, you will fail. It is true that blacks and Latinos are socially conservative but they do not base there primary votes on such issues, there primary interest will be economic. Also most people in urban areas are moderate on gay issues, because there bosses,family members, and co-workers are gay.
The problem with the GOP is very simple the southern white base of the GOP has all but taken over the party, making it a male dominated, southern, party. As long as that’s the image of this party we will began loose. The demographics are clear the nation is not primarily white and male it is more diverse. The problem is the GOP is moving against the tide because its leadership is afraid of change. Change means giving up power and some people prefer power over change even if it means destruction for the party. It is this arrogance and blatant disregard for growing the party that will doom this party. The fact that Obama got close to 60 percent of the Latino vote should scare the crap out of the RNC. If we think Obama was a shock wait to the Census numbers come out!
Most blacks live in the South and do not trust white southern Republicans because they think there racist. The GOP only confirms these suspicions by having an all white state chairpersons and no inner city initiatives. The state parties are at fault for perpetuating this stereotype’s they are terrified of the urban landscape they prefer the comfort of rural and suburban areas. The RNC and the state chairs refuse to spend money on real outreach because as one strategists once said “we win without them”.
We need a real urban think tank with real urban people at the table not just experts pontificating. As a party we need to roll up our sleeves take a poll in Detroit, Harlem and DC and ask questions. Once we start the dialogue and find out what these peoples top concerns and fears are, we can then come up with better solutions than the Democrats. We need to empower people where Democrat policies hinder and keep people poor. But in order for us to be a big tent party we are going to have to improve our minority outreach or we will cease to be a relevant party.
The Left’s use of identity politics to pilfer voters doesn’t help the matter, obviously. As I wrote on my blog, we could really use a bigger GOP tent regardless. A majority party should look and feel and sound like a majority party, which means more than one voice. Period.
That’s why I wrote a memo on how we win again. I hope you’ll check it out.
Great topic, btw.
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