GOP lets a few scare minorities to Dems' side
GOP lets a few scare minorities to Dems’ side
Hub Opinion | Posted: Sunday, November 18, 2012 9:00 am
Hard-line Nebraska conservatives, this message is for you, and it was drafted by the 52 percent of Americans who sent President Barack Obama back to the White House for four more years.
The message: Conservativism could perish in this nation unless the Republican Party learns to play nicely. That means muzzling outspoken xenophobes — the party members who fear and demonize people who aren’t like them.
A prime national example is Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., who built his career coming down hard on illegal immigrants. Closer to home, state Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont has made a name pushing proposals with similar underpinnings, such as a voter ID law or requiring police officers to check people they suspect might be in the country illegally.
Such laws are discriminatory, even though their supporters might argue otherwise.
Also close to home are the Nebraskans who characterize their president as the outsider-in-chief. They describe Obama as a closet Muslim without a birth certificate who flirts with socialism.
We all desire that our officials hold their positions legitimately and that foreigners are here legally, but there are constructive as well as divisive ways to address such issues. By allowing a few in their ranks to be divisive and outspoken, well-meaning Republicans have rolled out a “you’re not welcome” mat for minorities, even though their party seriously needs a growing presence among non-white Americans.
Mitt Romney’s biggest mistake may have been adopting a hard-line stance on immigration. By making Hispanics feel unwelcome, he also may have scared away blacks, Asians and other minorities.
The result: 93 percent of blacks voted Democratic, as did 73 percent of Asians and 71 percent of Hispanics.
Romney won three out of five white votes, but that wasn’t enough. The results of 2012 signal the diminished sway of the white majority. Republicans who passed third-grade math must realize by now they’ll never win another national election banking only on the white vote.
If Republicans want conservativism to survive, they’ve got to embrace diversity.
That doesn’t mean billboards with elephants wearing sombreros. What it really requires is muzzling the party’s xenophobes so minorities can begin feeling as if they are welcome in the neighborhood. Eventually, more will want to hear the Republican message, which is rooted in basic values, such as family values and personal responsibility, which many diverse people understand and appreciate.
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