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In the WaPo today, there is a piece ”In a More Diverse America, A Mostly White Convention,” that illustrates a serious problem on display at the Republican National Convention. This year the GOP hit a record low in black attendees (despite “outreach” by the RNC under Ken Mehlman), and the blizzard of pale faces in this year’s crowd begs the question—is this a party ready to lead in the 21st century—it looks more like a party in denial of reality.
Only 36 of the 2,380 delegates seated on the convention floor are black, the lowest number since the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies began tracking diversity at political conventions 40 years ago. Each night, the overwhelmingly white audience watches a series of white politicians step to the lectern—a visual reminder that no black Republican has served as a governor, U.S. senator or U.S. House member in the past six years.
“It’s hard to look around and not get frustrated,” said Michael S. Steele, a black Republican and former lieutenant governor of Maryland. “You almost have to think, ‘Wait. How did it come to this?’ “
...The lack of diversity is out of sync with the demographic changes in the United States. The Census Bureau reported last month that racial and ethnic minorities will make up a majority of the country’s population by 2042—almost a decade earlier than what the bureau predicted just four years ago. Two-thirds of Americans are non-Hispanic whites, 12.4 percent are black and 14.8 percent are Hispanic, according to 2006 census numbers.
The GOP has managed to scrape up only failed gubernatorial candidate Steele to speak in prime time. The plain truth is that the party has failed to present any strategy that works to appeal to minority voters (only 5% of the delegates are Latino/a). It’s not as if black voters, for instance, only vote along racial lines—if that were the case, Alan Keyes or Cynthia McKinney would have fared better in their bids for president this year.
How does the party find a decline in black delegates from a record 167 in 2004 to this year’s 36, or the fact that 24 state delegations have no black members acceptable? Steele’s frustration says it all:
“I am not going through another election cycle where we fail to energize and engage minority communities. Have you ever heard that saying—about how the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result? Well, what we’ve done with minorities has become a form of political insanity.”
Oliver Willis:
If your message is targeted to one monoculture, and your noise machine largely run by that monoculture, you have no way of knowing how out of touch you are. Most Republican pols and conservatives simply have no true gauge for when they’re speaking in an exclusionary manner. It’s natural. For the Democratic party to exist it must appeal to all races - period. It’s no coincidence that most minorities in federal office are Democrats and the few times the Republicans try to dress up their monoculture policies in the guise of a minority they suffer double digit defeats like Michael Steele (Steele lost the black vote 74% to 25%).
The Republicans, even more than in the past, have decided to get their monochromatic base motivated to the exclusion of everyone else. Heck, they put the wife of a separatist on the ticket!
UPDATE: I kid you not, this was what was on the front page of CNN just a short time ago (no P’shopping involved). Palin, the new face of the GOP:
Posted by
Pam Spaulding on 08:36 AM •
Permalink
Well, the GOP has been pushing “Non-whites are our eternal enemy” as their primary message for the past few decades—eventually, something repeated that often has to start sinking in with everyone…
So...by 2042 the Republican party will have no chance of winning ever again?
Or will the wealthy white folk have banded together and seceded by then?
“It’s hard to look around and not get frustrated,” said Michael S. Steele, a black Republican and former lieutenant governor of Maryland. “You almost have to think, ‘Wait. How did it come to this?’ “
Look at the last forty years, Mr. Steele. Hell, look back three.
Well, Black Americans are always ahead of the trend. They were against the Iraq War long before the rest of America figured it was a loser; African Americans were giving George Bush single digit approval ratings at least a year before the rest of the country caught up.
Again, Black folks are ahead of the game by jumping off the sinking SS GOP before it goes belly up.
Did you watch while the Latina leader of Hispanic CEOs was speaking? It was like they could not even hear her—as though she were not speaking. (It didn’t help that she was saying things that didn’t match their reality—she was talking about how the health care system is broken—but that didn’t matter: brown woman talking? WHat’s that odd buzzing sound?)
Boy, it’s gotta irritate John McCain that Republicans like his running mate more than him. When was the last time he raised $10m in two or three days? If the Dems were smart, they’d think of some really subtle way to dig at him over that.
Wow. That gives deeper meaning to the joke about preferring the speech in the original German…
An irritated John McCain is known to call his soulmates ‘cunts’.
That picture is amazing. What is that SS shape? Is it a wall or part of the megaTVbackground?
B/c if it’s a permanent feature, the GOP may have Godwinned itself.
Wow. Some graphic designer is going to get fired… or promoted. It depends on the polls, I guess.
What is that SS shape?
While I find it humorous, it really has no particular resemblance to the Schutzstaffel badge.
What is that SS shape?
Looks like it’s part of a wall or platform. And the “SS” is probably more a matter of camera angle—I’d guesstimate it’s actually fairly squared-off right angles…
You have to also consider that the Republican party’s outright hostility to urban America as opposed to small-town America can’t help them attract more minority voters… that attitude just became worse and more pronounced over the last 8 years, as well. Even African Americans who have left the cities for the suburbs still retain their connections to their churches, friends, and families still in the cities they moved away from. Looked at from that perspective, every other line of Giuliani’s and Palin’s speeches were a spit in the face at African American voters.
Of course, for white “mainstream” republicans all this just plays into their belief that blacks and hispanics are stupid and lazy—otherwise they’d pull themselves up by their bootstraps and vote republican.
What’s particularly nice about this in the long run is that the big money folks can’t afford to be known as the bankroll of the party of white people.
Alan Keyes and Cynthia McKinney would have done better??????? Even a majority of the lowest of low information voters were able to recognize that those 2 are just plain nuts.
Sweet mother of Jefferson Davis! That picture is… just wow.
Good to see that Southern Strategy laid bare.
“Country First”, but drop the “o”.
That picture is the single best thing I’ve seen all year. I’ve been laughing my ass of at it all day.
Splortz-- That’s really not cool, and plays right into the McCain narrative that criticism of Palin is rooted in misogyny. Surely we can dislike her just based on her hateful policies and record of corruption.
Splortz-- you do know what blog this is, right? Shit like that don’t fly here.
Oh, let’s be fair. Every time a politician holds his or her arm outstretched at an upward angle, someone does the Nazi-salute comparison.
Palin is a nasty big-haired fundie witch, and I hope she never gets any closer to the White House than a visitors’ tour. But over-the-top Nazi analogies are as vicious and alienating when we do it as when Peggy Noonan does it.
Hey folks, easy, could it be splortz was just playing on McSame’s pet name for Cindy?
And on that note, I’m a militant feminist so don’t read this inany other way,OK? McSame is like the crude rube at the bar, who when the pretty woman or the smart one or whichever his first choice is, won’t give him the time of day, turns to the bottom of the barrel (in his mind) woman in the place and then jokes to his buddy that “they’re all the same once you turn’em over.”
That’s the attitude McSame has with this VP pick - he saw Hillary supporters as voting for her because she’s a woman, so he thought “I’ll pick a woman - however divisive and inexperienced she is - it won’t matter, because in McSame’s mind - ‘once you turn ‘em over, they’re all the same anyway.’” And of course, being a Republican - he thinks everyone else thinks like he does.
“It’s hard to look around and not get frustrated,” said Michael S. Steele, a black Republican and former lieutenant governor of Maryland. “You almost have to think, ‘Wait. How did it come to this?’ “
And then you remember “Oh, wait—I’m a Republican; thinking isn’t our thing.”
In our area of VA, the GOP routinely recruits minority candidates to run against strong Democratic incumbents where they have no chance of winning. It helps them pretend to be diverse and not leave the race uncontested, but none of the important people have to waste their time. For the races where they have a chance of winning, it’s white faces all the way.
he plain truth is that the party has failed to present any strategy that works to appeal to minority voters (only 5% of the delegates are Latino/a).
As a former South Floridian, I’m willing to bet you Sarah Palin’s glasses that the vast majority of those Latino delegates are Cuban Americans.
Oh, let’s be fair. Every time a politician holds his or her arm outstretched at an upward angle, someone does the Nazi-salute comparison.
Well, it’s too expensive to invade Europe these days given the exchange rates…
out of morbid curiosity, I asked my husband to turn on the Rethug Convention, last night. “BLIZZARD” is spot on. that was the first thing I noticed. we also noticed that the camera people were absolutely desperate to find people that are obviously not Caucasian, in the crowd. that must be a real headache for the camera crew- trying to find something that just isn’t that present.
This calls to mind the days of grandpa Prescott Bush working behind the scenes with the Nazi party… maybe we really HAVE come full circle and are about to see those [no-bid contract halliburton-built-WHYdo we need these????] detention centers around the US being used for something after all.... immigration emergency? The mind reels........
Oh, let’s be fair. Every time a politician holds his or her arm outstretched at an upward angle, someone does the Nazi-salute comparison.
Well, it’s too expensive to invade Europe these days given the exchange rates…
Ok, ok. The picture didn’t make me laugh but this comment sure as hell did. LooooL. Phoenician in a time of Romans on 09/04 at 04:06 PM you make me laugh so hard I had soda come out my nose.
She’s White Power, for sure.
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Well, the GOP has been pushing “Non-whites are our eternal enemy” as their primary message for the past few decades—eventually, something repeated that often has to start sinking in with everyone…