Saturday, November 10, 2012

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell doesn’t believe “angry white guys” are the key anymore


The always brilliant, and broad visioned (cough, cough) governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell commented on “CBS This Morning” after President Obama’s re-election victory that the Republican Party has to expand its appeal to a wider range of voters before the next election cycle.[1] Brilliant!

So brilliant in fact that just about anyone interested in politics could have come up with the same conclusion long before this latest round of political elections.

Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) lament that there weren’t enough “angry white guys”[2] to propel the Republican Party into the White House and control of the U.S. Congress gives some idea of the “minority problem” that the Republican Party faces and has faced for some time. According to Graham, “The demographics race we’re losing badly. We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.”[3]

Indeed, one striking statistic bears Graham’s point out. Hispanics made up 10 percent of all votes cast during the 2012 elections, with only 27 percent voting for Mitt Romney. Yikes!

Of course, it shouldn’t have taken a supposedly lame duck presidents reelection to bring this point home. 

Viewing any number of Mitt Romney’s “rallies” during the course of his campaign trail, one would be hard-pressed to find a minority presence anywhere near that of Romney’s presidential opponent.

But the real question is, can the Republican Party change? Can the GOP actually cast off its narrow policy platform to embrace a wider base of voters, and can it do so in time for the next round of elections?

One thing this presidential election should have taught the so-called political experts and amateurs alike is that anything is possible in our dynamic and ever-changing world. Yes, it’s even possible that the GOP can change its message over time to include a broader base of voters, even if the hatefulness and bigotry still lies underneath the surface.

What is much less uncertain is that America is changing demographically, and fast. Can our republic truly represent these disparate groups as their political power along with their numbers increase? And will this growing power drive more white voters into one politically defensive corner? The experiment that is America continues!


[1] http://www.newsleader.com/article/20121107/NEWS01/311070019/McDonnell-GOP-must-broaden-its-voter-base
[2] http://www.cnbc.com/id/49722937
[3] http://www.cnbc.com/id/49722937

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