A New Face for the GOP?
It looks like the GOP is now starting to get the diversity of candidates they’ll need. While white conservatives certainly fueled their big 2010 victory, the Republicans also broadened their ethnic appeal by electing two black representatives in the South (Allen West in Florida and Tim Scott in South Carolina) for the first time since the Civil War era, and a black woman as lieutenant governor of Florida. They elected an Hispanic woman governor (Susan Martinez of New Mexico), an Asian woman governor (Nikki Haley of South Carolina), a Mexican-American governor (Brian Sandoval of Nevada), and three Mexican-American House members. The Republicans even elected a Puerto Rican Mormon in Idaho, Congressman Raul Labrador.
This year, all of those congressional Republican minority incumbents are favored to win. And their numbers will grow: Ted Cruz is the overwhelming favorite to win a U.S. Senate seat in heavily Republican Texas, while in Utah, Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love (a black immigrant from Haiti and Mormon convert) has an even chance at becoming the first black Republican woman ever elected to Congress in a state Romney will win easily.
This is good news for all Americans who want to see politics move beyond racial considerations. As Richard Ivory, a black Republican consultant, said, “Color is becoming less of an issue. … There was a time when the white electorate saw race first and made judgments based on this alone. While black Republicans and Obama disagree ideologically, both are candidates whose message surpassed pigment.”
While Romney isn’t expected to win many black votes against the first African-American president, a newer Republican Party could have a decent chance to win over some of the church-going black middle class in 2016 on social issues like gay marriage.
Maybe it’s the new Census figures, maybe it’s the influence of Marco Rubio, but the GOP is also now aggressively courting the Hispanic vote. Was this a Republican National Convention or a meeting of the Hispanic Caucus? More Spanish than ever was spoken from the podium by (among others) Texas Representative Francisco Canseco, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, Texas Senate nominee Ted Cruz, Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuno, New Mexico Governor Martinez (who also thrilled the crowd with a paean to gun ownership), Craig Romney (Mitt’s youngest son who did missionary work in Chile), Jeb Bush, and Senator Marco Rubio.
Republicans seem to have woken up to the fact that they’ll need some Hispanic votes in Florida and the battleground states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada — and they’re adjusting their strategies accordingly. (If Cruz wins in Texas, the GOP will have two Hispanic senators, equaling the Democrats’ previous record of two.)
There was a saying about minority politics back in the 1970s and 1980s: the Democrats could take the black vote for granted precisely because the Republicans wrote it off — and vice versa. That is no longer true in 2012. No one will be written off or taken for granted.
Both parties — and all ethnic groups — benefit when candidates compete for all voters. It is usually healthy for democracy when everyone’s voice is heard.
what do you get when you mix st.Patricks day, cinco de Mayo, and Juneteenth? fourth of July
Perhaps when blacks and hispanics realize that for generations they’ve been kept on a veritable plantation by the Democratic party, they will finally understand that if they want real upward mobility their only hope is to join the Republicans. The Democrats are famous for instilling a feeling of dependency on these people, making them think that their only hope is to place all their trust in government handouts. Never do the Democrats say that you can make your own future or that, with enough hard work and determination, you can do anything you want and BE as successful as you want. But because the “victim” mentality permeates the Democratic party, they make all minorities feel like they are helpless unless they get government support for just about everything.
Tell that to Herman Cain or Condie Rice or Mia Love, to name just a few.
She doesn’t advertise it, but freshman congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler from Washington State’s 3rd congressional district is Hispanic. One of the peculiarities of GOP minorities is that they tend not to make an issue of their minority status, unlike the Elizabeth Warrens of the world who fake minority status that they don’t really have.
Behind the Curtain by Charles Goyette Recently by Charles Goyette: We Marched Right In
http://lewrockwell.com/goyette/goyette45.1.html
Published on Sep 25, 2012 by Ben Swann Reality Check sits down 1 on 1 with Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan to talk about defense cuts and whether President Obama is really trying to gut the military.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al2HAxRTJRU&feature=plcp
So the dems/libs/lame stream media will continue to say that the republican party hates minorities, and wants to keep any shred of credibility. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
Heaven help the minorities running for office as republicans. Just think back to the pure hell the media and libs put the Honorable Clarence Thomas through. Biden and Kennedy were the nastiest of nasty that I have ever seen. I don’t believe the leopards have lost their spots
Rubio voted against your freedom. From the Patriot act renewal, and the NDAA bill. Trust but verify everybody’s vote, and leave no stone unturned so to speak!
Satellite Spots Lockheed’s Mystery Drone By David Axe June 18, 2012
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/06/lockheeds-mystery-drone/
I wonder if I’ll live to see the day when nobody brings up these types of statistics except maybe as a remember when we used to… type of report? I’ve lived long enough to see No colored signs to what we have today but I look forward to the day when nobody even thinks about it. In the service we had a saying, we are not black or white or yellow or brown, we are all green, just some are a darker shade of green than others. The man next to you kept you alive and you did the same for him. We are not African-American, Asian-American, Mexican-American, (though I guess that could still be used for Mexicans living in Mexico since that is technically a part of the American continent) we are all just plain old Americans.
Gabriela Saucedo Mercer not only explains why she is a Republican but why she is a proud Republican.
http://youtu.be/fd3CR9CG1eI
i love the sound of “49 state landslide”
“There was a time when the white electorate saw race first”
And what other racial/ethnic groups do otherwise? 95% of blacks are voting for BHO only because of his race not for anything else: what did he ever do in the decades of activism for the poor in Chicago? Nothing! What about Hispanics? Muslims?
Sad that we apparently look for leadership in a face similar to our own. I suppose this is the basis of a “Wise Latina”, no?
I’d settle for just “wise” thank you.
The Republican party, in addition to welcoming minorities, must broaden its outlook and acknowledge that family values come in various sizes and shapes and don’t always include being pro life. From a female outlook, the GOP consists of white males….many at least middle-aged. The whole party will just die off unless changes are made.
I’m 66 and a veteran. I don’t care ’bout the color of a candidate’s skin or their gender.
I want them to sound like Alan West or Nikki Haley. They are my countrymen, not the Obamas, Pelosis, Reids, Bidens and Kerrys who hate the restraints imposed on them by The Constitution.