Upshot of comments from the Sunday shows: Republicans realizing they’re in a weak position on budget negotiations.
There’s a lot I don’t agree with in this column by Ross Douthat in the Times. But he makes some very good points about the underlying role of economic policy behind the GOP’s problems and why a sudden flipflop on immigration (even if possible to pull off) wouldn’t be a panacea.
As Republicans return with a gusto to the idea ‘outreach’ to minorities I wanted to reprint something I wrote (jeez, time flies) almost fifteen years ago on just this topic. Some of the details have changed. Some of the people have passed from the scene. But the underlying reality remains pretty much the same …
Many of the “wedge issues” that worked so well for the Republicans in the past now present them with problems similar to those discussed above. Nowhere is this more the case than in the Republican Party’s relationship with Hispanic voters.
Votes are still being counted. But let’s note that the early reports of a razor thin lead in the popular vote are now outdated. The current margin is Obama 51%, Romney 48%. Obama’s gross margin is now well over 3 million votes and larger than George Bush’s margin of just over 3 million votes. And that margin is almost certain to increase.
In 2008, it was Obama 52.9%, McCain 45.7%, with almost a 10 million vote margin.
I just read this piece by David Brooks. In it he finds his way to an interesting observation — new groups entering the American story (he’s speaking specifically about Hispanics and Asians) have many of the values Republicans claim to celebrate — hard work, entrepreneurialism, dedication to family. And yet they’re voting for Democrats by overwhelming proportions. And Brooks says it’s because Republicans ‘Big government is squashing your liberty and economic opportunity’ line just doesn’t make any sense to these people. Read More
After calling for Texas to secede from the union over Obama win, Texas Republican explains that “many members of minority groups are simply racist against the party most white people happen to vote for.”