Mitt Romney took an enormous gamble about a year ago: he would run very far to the right on immigration policy, alienating the fastest growing segment of the American electorate on purpose, in order to secure the Republican Party's nomination. Then, he hoped to be able to avoid a drubbing from Latino voters in the general election. It was, as Ron Brownstein put it, Romney's "original sin."
The gamble, we now know, failed miserably. President Obama won close races in Colorado, Nevada, and (probably) Florida, and it was Latino voters who made this success possible.
But let's also step back and look at the bigger picture.
After George W. Bush's relative success eight years ago, this current trajectory simply isn't sustainable for the Republican Party, and basic self-awareness suggests the party must recognize its dilemma. As NBC's First Read put it this morning, "[M]ake no mistake: What happened last night was a demographic time bomb that had been ticking and that blew up in GOP faces."
It was an offhand comment made in August, but one of the more important quotes of 2012 came from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who conceded, "The demographics race we're losing badly. We're not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term."
The question then becomes what the party intends to do about it. As the party does some wound-licking and soul-searching, I might suggest putting this at the top of the to-do list. If party leaders think "self-deportation" is the appropriate solution, they can expect to see more results like yesterday's.
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This is what happens when you decide to alienate people and make them second class citizens.
... and then treat them with the same disdain for their intelligence by attempting to hide the ugliness of his policies with orange spray on skin and packing the Univision audience for his interview with bussed in supporters.
With all due respect to MSNBC who has hosts from some of the key demographics in the US.
Buenas Phil. ¿Dónde están los conductores de MSNBC de la comunidad hispana?
This is what happens when you let your traditional enemies (the Confederates) come in and take over the Grand Old Party of Lincoln. Live by the sword, you asswipe southern traitors, die by it (again). The people you look down on - the lib'ruls, the wimmen, the darkies, the mess'kins, they just whupped your southern asses.
The GOP got a Spanish lesson. They learned to say "soy un perdedor"
As I see it, this has two likely implications, both good in my view: over time, either the
Rape-Public-CON Party will have to adjust their meds and moderate back into the late, lamented Republican Party, or eventually resign themselves to "permanent minority-party status" (take that, Turdblossom!). Turns out, "voting for revenge" is sweet!
And thus they reap the whirlwind they have sown with many decades of pursuit of their disgraceful "Southern Strategy".
Got Enraged and Engaged:
Mooched the Vote 2012!
;-)
As a Hispanic divorced mother of 3 daughters, I am quite offended by the way the right has treated my demographic, primarily from the right's electorate. Although my family has been in Texas since the 1800s, the far right treats all Hispanics like they are illegal, uneducated and free-loaders. Until this rhetoric stops, I fail to see the GOP obtain any support for this group. I am multi-degreed, own multiple homes and automobiles. I have worked my entire life, I believe I deserve some respect, and the GOP is not giving it to us.
And you deserve it. I spent part of my life in Southern California during the days when Cesar Chavez was organizing the farm workers. I was young and didn't understand all the politics but I did understand that things weren't fair the way they were and it influenced me greatly. People deserve respect no matter who they are or what their ancestry might be or what they do for a living. The Republican party is learning the price of arrogance and prejudice.
My husband's family has been in the San Antonio area since the Spanish times. He and they get treated to extra scrutiny by law enforcement and get followed around the mall regularly. It's humiliating in one way, but strangely empowering in another sort of "forgive them for they know not what they do" sort of way.
Shamefull none the less.
Tom
Kobol ...Lets make Texas the new swing state....
Jokes aside, it could happen...
If the demographics continue the way they are, Texas (and Arizona) could indeed be swing states soon!
Kobol - you deserve respect because you breath air! but am appreciative of your success.
I looked at this vote as the "last gasp" of the "angry white guy". No "they" aren't going away but no longer do they get to bully over other demographics (women, african-americans, hispanic, non-evangelican christians, non-christians, etc.) It is what happens when the "majority" isn't really a majority anymore and doesn't have the monopoly/power that goes w/ that.
The diversity that exists in this country is now more represented (more work to do of course). We are a country stronger for our diversity, stronger in our union. We show that when we come together to deal with a national emergency - we can do that in non-emergency times too.
Our local elected officials as well as state, regional, and federal are starting to reflect the true diversity in this country. It is a process that is joyful yet also painful.
It is very important to remain engaged in the democratic process - at all levels. Vote for your school board, county commissioners, city council, etc. Expect and demand representation on the issues and concerns of your family, friends and community. Stay involved!
The good and ironic news is that the angry white guy is getting so old, he will no longer have a picture ID to vote.
Just remember there's a few of us "angry old white guys" who have been angry about the damn Right for longer than many of you have been alive, and we've been fighting them since we were young angry white guys. :-)
Sending love to TCinLA! Keep the faith, fight the good fight!
Im all for the melting pot, the only thing I am against with regards to the hispanic community is the illegal population. Other than that I have 0 problems with any nationality that wants to move here. Feel free to join the US and add to our diversity of education and workforce, I'm proud of it in fact :)
Romney and the Right made it clear from the start - This was going to be an election about clear choices between two visions for the country: Obama's, and whatever particular vision Romney chose to embrace just prior to 11/6. But Romney, sans core, got pinned with the more conservative position, on a range of issues, from immigration to the budget.
Now in after-school, when they should be doing a little navel gazing, the Right has already embarked on a Romney-wasn't-conservative-enough-to-overcome-the liberal-media-bias-and-Obama-is-going-to-have-to-compromise, or something like that.
America made its choice.
"...the Republican Party, and basic self-awareness suggests the party must recognize its dilemma."
You're funny Steve, "basic self-awareness" and GOTP are an anathema to each other. Over the course of the last several years the GOTP has devolved into not just the good ole white mens club, but small of spirit & character, intellectually lazy, authoritarian and down-right mean! There was a time when I could have a spirited debate of the issues with the GOTP, where the responses to the issues being discussed were lively if nothing else, today's GOTP are intransigent, ignorant of the issues, and don't want to even live in "the real world"!
I think that the GOTP as a party needs to implode, maybe that's what will force them to face reality, facts as they really are and bring about much needed change within that "party"!
"basic self awareness" implies the presence of a brain, and that is "a fact not in evidence" when it comes to the Right.
The GOP solution will be to rescind the vote for women!
I keep hearing many of the GOP talking heads saying they should be pushing Rubio as the face of the Republican party the next time the presidential election comes around. I think this too is an unsustainable ploy (and a pretty cynical one at that) and attempt to "appear" to be friendly to the growing Latino population. That the GOP doesn't understand that it's deeper than appearances tells me that they don't now, nor never may get it.
What a stupid point to be hammering over and over...even if it's a reality!!
Why feed the haters? It'll just bring about more, "PAPERS PLEASE" laws through out all those red states!
I think we are missing the bigger picture here. If the Republicans don't actually support more than half of our country's population, than instead of trying to cram their beliefs into a minority-friendly package, they should just shrink down to a non-issue. I am not saying the nation should splinter any further into various political parties, and I hate how polarized things are but really. They don't need to figure out another ploy to get votes when they believe the exact opposite of what they would be preaching. Believe what you believe, lose, and let somebody else take a shot. There is something very natural and right about that.
As much as anything else, the "values" strategy that the Repugs have developed will probably try to embrace Latinos. (and I am one). The deal is they are two-faced hypocrites, and their version of family values is "our way or the highway." What we have to move to in some of these issues, such as gay rights, is that people are entitled as citizens of this country to all the same contractual rights. Those same people probably wouldn't want to join a church that doesn't believe that, and the GOP has made a thirty-year living making that line impassable.
Pete Wilson took a similiar approach about 20 years ago in California. California is now an overwhelmingly Democratic state.
As often happens, national trends start on the west coast.
I was living in Cal through Wilson and Deukmajian, what a couple of phonies.
Republicans whip together their coalitions with fear. Fear of the "others." Anyone not like them in every way is "other." The fact that 72% of the electorate is white, and yet 52% voted for Obama, to them is incomprehensible.
America has always been a nation of immigrants, and the "great melting pot." Compared to other countries, we are amazingly diverse. That is our great strength, and those who have tried to "take our country back" instead of FORWARD, just don't get it.
Right, it is actually a personality based pack behavior. Republicans tend to be more of a group oriented and war oriented kind of people. they tend to see other people as different even if they have to manufacture something to make it seem so. It would surprise and anger them even more to hear that most of Iranians are well educated young progressive thinking people who just want to live out their lives. It's the government there, fighting to keep control through a degrading economy that are the only Iranians we see but that is off the subject.
Democrats can't take the Hispanic vote forgranted. If the Republicans ever pull their heads out of the sand they will discover what a lot of us already know. Many, if not most, Hispanics are hard working social conservatives who would naturally flock to the Republican brand if the Republican party wasn't openly hostile.
While Republicans need to look at themselves, Democrats have to take their own peak in the mirror to make sure they don't loose this really important demographic.
I came here to say much the same thing. The Republican Party could probably get at least half of the Latino vote if it would just do a few, very simple things, most of which would enormously please Big Business and Big Agriculture. And, that's "at least" as in "and might even come to dominate that vote in a way that could put Democrats in a world of trouble." Stop the hateful speech and get on board with immigration reform--including paths to citizenship and, well, really that's all.
Except that, like all the other seemingly simple things the GOP could do to get it off the road to that seat on the ash heap the Whigs and Federalists are keeping warm for it, that would require them to let go of all the fever-swamp hysterical alternate universe toxic waste they've been using to keep the SWP's angry and onboard and immunized to the contagion of shared economic and class interests.
That's their dilemma--all of the stuff they have to do is stuff that might turn the working class whites against them and, if that happens, the same cognitive dissonance avoidance mechanisms that caused all those protestant fundies to get over Mitt's Mormonism in such an unseemly hurry might well work against them.
The GOP elites are chained to the base they've worked so hard to crazify and any attempt to broaden it risks becoming a net-zero or net loss game. When you build a base by actively promoting narrow-mindedness and bigotry, it makes it kind of hard to broaden it.
Reason though itsn't enough. It would take a fundamental shift in the way these people actually think to make that turn. If anyone is curious, watch the TED presentation on the subject. I cant remember the name of the speaker but if you search on liberal conservative, you will find it.
The GOP will not begin to work with President Obama because of an irrelevant "mandate." They will see charts and graphs like this and decide to moderate their stances. I suspect they will try to pay lip service to the various segments of the populace, at first. But, those segments are not stupid. The GOP will only win if they prove their words intent through their actions. We all need to hold them to task, lessen the influence of unaccountable monies, and keep the elections from becoming the World Cup of Politics (it's only interesting every 4 years).
On a biased note, I hope the far-right ideologues REALLY take note, engage in introspection, and decide what they really want for our country- not just for themselves.
Good luck to everyone!
'satcomsid' rather than the 'far-right ideologues' deciding what 'they really want for our country.' I would submit that they need to learn what the country wants from them.
Say, I wonder where Shooter242 is today...
and Irish pat , paco65 routerboy1000, I wish I had the troll crying towel concession...I'd be cleaning up
"Say, I wonder where Shooter242 is today..."
Hanging himself, if we're lucky.
Those guys are probably pulling rickshaws in China.
Back under their rocks, where they belong.
Passed out in a gutter somewhere sleeping it off and wondering how they could possibly been so wrong...well except for the troll-o-matic 1000...he's gone back to his day job recording telephone call menus.
"Not enough angry white guys" should be not enough angry SOUTHERN white guys. Almost every stance the gop has taken over the past maybe 20 years, but certainly since 2005, has been a southern, white, Bible-thumpers' position. It's what the party is. But that isn't what the country is.
So I agree with Tracy and No mas rot. The gop can't be what it is now and still run the country. For national consumption they've been trying to fog up who they are. But it really is who they are, so they might as well embrace it and understand that they aren't really for everybody and they aren't really a governing party.
If they want to be a governing party, they have to change who they are. No amount of lipstick will hide the pig's essential piggishness.
Definitely right. Nixon's "Southern strategy" let the Southernist parasite that had been ensconced in the Democratic Party come in and take over the host. We all know what happens when the parasite attempts to dominate the host. The Old Confederacy didn't rise again (again).
Market already down over 300 points to the reaction of President Obamas re election
LMAO
Glad I was smart enough to liquidate everything just in case
Oh those darn facts.... Always get in the way of a good story.
NEW YORK — Dow Jones industrial average falls 200 points after Europe slashes economic growth forecast.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/dow-jones-industrial-average-falls-200-points-after-europe-slashes-economic-growth-forecast/2012/11/07/33242f9c-28e9-11e2-aaa5-ac786110c486_story.html
You were a fool to liquidate (if thats in fact what you did) the markets are responding the bad economic news in Germany! Since Obama's taken office 401k have done very well, Wait exceptionally well. Perhaps you should take clues from Mit Romney and see where he's putting his money.
Always nice to realize that no matter what happens, a wingnut moron will always be a wingnut moron.
Go back to chasing your sister and wanking yourself when you can't catch her, you useless piece of Southern crap.
What hasn't been mentioned much yet is the fact that while Republicans believe that Obama is lefter than left, that commie socialist, etc, he has pretty much taken over the center/center right in politics by adopting many Republican ideas in his first 4 years like the healthcare law. This has had the profound effect of pushing the Republican Party further right, while they still believe that they are the party of the center and right.
You can't plan where to go if you don't know your starting point and the Republican Party currently has no idea where they are. So good luck with that guys. Sorry, old white guys.
One of the reasons the republicans will control the House for awhile is because they redistricted after the 2010 census, and as usual they Gerrymandered the districts to dilute the opposition.
And groups of like people live in same sections. The more educated Americans get, the more of a melting pot these districts will be. At some point, latinos, blacks and whites will all occupy the same districts and you wont get into the house if you dont answer to everyone.
Which is proof that Democrats need to learn to vote in EVERY ELECTION, just like The Enemy does. The Republicans didn't win in 2010 by magically finding new voters, they won because Democrats didn't vote. And now we get to spend 10 years working to defeat the Tea Party traitors who were all made "safe" by gerrmandered redistricting we allowed to happen by not showing up.
I just remembered: No more Mendacious Mitt on Friday. That's a damn good thing.
I'm a little bit less Disgusted With It All today.
And I a little less sick-n-effin -tired
No Mitt and Stepford Ann
"You People" Can go about your meager existences while Mitt and I relax with our 1/4 of a billion dollars
Sorry folks but this immigration stuff is just ridiculous! I just don't buy this stuff
I support the rights of people no matter where they come from but I do not support and I never will support the illegal part of the immigration issue...why would I?
You don't reward people for breaking into your home. You send those people to jail! (and in this case the country is your "home") You don't give them a free anything unless its a free trip back to where they came from.
I doubt there are many that support illegal entry into the country. What most of us do not agree with is automatically assuming all brown people are illegals and acting accordingly. Such viewpoints and actions are disgusting, despicable, and downright unAmerican.
Ya know, I don't disagree with you. That's why I liked John McCain's DREAM Act. But once Obama was in office, the GOP wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft pole. If they had, they might have won in states like NV and CO.
Unemployment is high in this country, and yet farmers cannot get "legal" farm workers to harvest crops. It's hard work and it doesn't pay well. That's part of the problem, along with all the folks who don't want to pay their gardener or their nanny a decent wage, and therefore hire undocumented workers.
It's actually free enterprise, supply and demand. I feel it is exploitative of this sector of society. So let's fix it.
Your "breaking in" analogy makes no sense, unless you assume that all undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. to commit property crimes (which would be false). Furthermore, trying to "fix" immigration by using harsher penalties against undocumented immigrants is as effective as "tough-on-crime" policies (i.e., not all that effective) because it focuses on papering over the issue instead of trying to fix the root cause of problems.
In the case of immigration, those root causes are broadly a) a byzantine system of immigration and citizenship-attainment that is all but impossible to navigate unless you have enough money to pay people who know how to work it; b) an uneven system of trade agreements that make migration far more appealing because labor's value in developing nations dropped considerably*; c) a strong motivation by U.S. companies to use undocumented labor because it allows them to cut costs in wages and benefits.
And that's not even considering the fact that immigration is one of the main drivers of U.S. economy: more immigrants means more people buying things, which means more money changing hands and thus, wealth generation. Also, immigration reform is important given the fact that the U.S., like other developed nations, is graying (i.e., the population, on average, is becoming older). This will only make the demand for labor higher, and easing immigration regulation ensures that you get a huge influx of workers that, if documented, would not only keep the economy moving, but would also increase government revenue (something they already do through sale, utility and other taxes you pay when purchasing goods or services)
--
*It's important to note this particular issue is changing, however, as Latin American economies grow. If I remember correctly, the number of undocumented workers coming from Mexico actually decreased in 2011 because economic prospects weren't as good in the U.S.
I agree. I would be willing to pay 5 cents more for an ear of corn if it paid a living wage to the guy who picked it. That is where minimum wage comes into play. It sets the playing field equal to all farmers. If you do that, then you can hire legals and there is nothing left for the illegals to take.
Brother's company had a meeting scheduled for today. He had just started workign there so apparently he had missed the memo that he was supposed to vote for Romney. He was told today that since Obama won that no one was allowed to get 30 hrs anymore, so they can avoid paying for thier health care. He works at pizza hut , makes minimum wage, and apparently since the owner is so worried about it they are already taking away people's hrs. I can't believe this is actually what they are going do, so much for obamacare really helpinig people. Have you heard of any other stories like this , cause i find it quite unacceptable.
How about letting it be known in the community and people can get their pizza else where. It has always been 30 hours or less and you are considered part time and therefore employers can decide not to provide benefits. This is an excuse, because once the cost has been determined they put it through to the consumer as they have been doing forever.
Individual business owners in the private sector should be prohibited from engaging in such tactics.
Watching MSNBC this morning I am still floored by how little the women issues are being discussed in lieu of the immigration. I actually saw a republican woman tell us that birth control was a non issue. Really? Immigration reform is big, I live in a west coast state and yes there needs to be open minded people to reform immigration, but it would be a big mistake to overlook these extremist issues regarding women.
The fact the GOP wants to get into our private lives and might have been able on a Supreme Court level was my reason, for the first time ever to vote straight ticket democrat. I hope that pundits and the news continues to keep women's issues equal time as the immigration issues.
Hearing the GOP talk this morning it seems the message is that they didn't lose by much and there is no need to have any in depth thinking of changing the party. All the more reason for the media and we the people to speak out against these prejudicial views.
And it looks more likely we'll have a 51st state sometime in the not too distant future. PR is somewhere between IA and CT in population, I think.
And it looks more likely we'll have a 51st state sometime in the not too distant future.
But how will they arrange the stars on the flag then????
Seriously folks, since we are in a "global economy" it should be noted that, if you think globally.... whites are a minority. Most people on the planet are of some color or another. Get used to it.
Maybe they'll bring in PR and the Virgin Islands at the same time!
Romney should have taken this election, with no problem given that the economy is still a mess. I repeat: Barack Obama should have lost this election-- and I say that as a lifelong liberal Democrat who gave money to Obama, the Democrats and worked to see them succeed last night.
The problem is that the Republican Party has lost touch with a lot of America-- the GOP has little or no connection with many young people, women, gay people, African Americans, Latinos, almost all of the growing areas of the electorate. All the GOP have left for the most part is older white men, evangelicals and so-called values voters and that is not enough people to win elections. Today should be a day of reflection for Republicans. The task: how do they build a coalition of people who share their (quite legitimate) conservative values?
The problem is that these Republicans know if they vote or take a stand that way they wont be supported financially to get re-elected. There is a huge financial machine that decides who gets in.
We need to take the money out of elections and create some stiffer rules for advertising. I know that sounds socialist, but we wont have fair representation until we get the corporations and other interests out of our election process.
The President works on more than one issue at a time, therefore to say that he should have lost based on one issue is the flawed thinking that the Republicans fell into.
The fact the Republicans thought they could say horrific things about women and immigrants and have the election only be about the economy is beyond ignorant.
The scary thought that white uninformed men where going to make decisions about my health as a woman was enough to mobilize me. The fact Mitt wouldn't stand up for young women being ridiculed for days by a bully, showed how much woman would be set back for decades if they won.
The idea that insulting racially charged names were used in conjunction with immigration was beyond offensive. There is no way that politicians who have no experience working in border states should be commenting.
This election was more than the economy it was about social issue brought on by Republicans. They paid for their prejudice and archaic thinking. You can not run for office and not have compassion for people on all levels. Governing is not the same as running a business. Business is about money. Governing is about people.
The Republicans fail to not only grasp this difference but the fact this election was about more than the economy.
The "real" GOP needs to reject the Tea Party's narrow minded, far-right view of the world and return to the more moderate positions of a few short decades ago. While the Dems have stayed the course and tried to work across the isle, the GOP right wing has taken that as a sign of weakness and dragged the party further and further to the extreme right. Until what passes for GOP leadership wraps their narrow little minds around that fact, and does something about it, they will continue to be further marginalized until a 3rd party emerges to take their place.
The Tea Party IS "the real GOP." They didn't become dickwads overnight. 50 years ago, my great-grand uncle, who worked for Harry Truman from 1918-1952, told me "the only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies." The last time they were any sort of progressive good force in the country was when Lincoln was president. TR was an accident they all bitterly resented.