Underlying Mitt Romney’s defeat Tuesday in the presidential election are some unsettling demographic trends for the Grand Old Party, whose base of support continues to be the nation’s declining white population.
President Obama’s campaign exploited the incremental increases in Latinos, Asian-Americans, and voters under the age of 30 to consolidate most of the gains made in the Democratic Party’s electoral expansion four years ago.
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Too many comentators seem to say that the GOP must change their postions on various social issues. But the first step is to change the composition of the party's "leaders." Remember the shots of the GOP convention. There were almost no black, Hispanic or young people on the florr of the convention, even though a number of speakers tried to make the case that they were immigrants who had made it big in the US by following the "free market" orthodoxy of the party.
I ask these Monday morning quarterbacks, "Where was all this soul searching and questioning before Tuesday, 11/6/2012?" Just do a Google search for any or all of the Republican candidates and read their statements about immigration reform. The nominee Romney himself put forth the "policy" of self deportation. And these past quotes for all of them are forever to be found in cyber space. The same goes for gay rights, gay marriage, gender equality issues and reproductive rights. I'll never forget that House Committee having a panel that they put together of all men, many middle aged and older, discussing women's reproductive issues. As serious as the topic was it reminded me of an SNL skit.
We heard this same analysis after the last election, but the Republican Party remains the same. Attracting minorities and women (who certainly aren't a minority) requires more than lip service. It requires ridding the party of its harsh social ideologies. That's a very difficult problem. It would be easier to allow the party to continue moving to the extreme right, but form a new more moderate party to compete with the Democrats.