Does GOP Reflect the US?

[Cantuar]

Originally Posted by FUEGO

You have just offended this Scottish-American very deeply. When I play my bagpipes, it is just an expression of my cultural heritage. Don't take that away from me!

Next you'll be telling me that my wife and daughters aren't entitled to special legal treatment in spite of the fact that they have been historically oppressed!

Well, at the very least they should be eligible for free ear plugs...

[FUEGO]

Originally Posted by Cantuar

Well, at the very least they should be eligible for free ear plugs...

I'll take those, plus a triple helping of affirmative action, government set-asides and quotas, please!

[bright eyed]

Originally Posted by FUEGO

I'll take those, plus a triple helping of affirmative action, government set-asides and quotas, please!

I guess you see no possibilities between what the RNC reflects now and forcing them...I'd like to think there might be more nuanced/proactive solutions...but the attitude so far does not reflect much interest in the subject...

I am bothered that the president could potentially come from a party that has such low membership from people of a variety or racial and ethnic backgrounds.

[clifp]

Originally Posted by bright eyed

Well, given that the vast majority of minorities are not participating in the RNC (which was the topic of the OP) and SC said "The GOP should not try to woo those who want to wallow in group victimhood, who take more pride in being a "hyphenated-American" than an "American." They can stay where they are--wherever that is."

And many minorities do enjoy hyphenating themselves - then I think it's not stretch to say that the way he characterized it himself leads to something broader than he may have intended...l

Actually, I think Bright Eyes makes a fair point, looking at this years RNC it does look like a bunch of old white folks, long term I don't think this is good for the GOP. Being in Hawaii, I never expect to attend a public event and see a majority of middle age haoles, but the McCain events I've been to are just that.

AFAIK, the DNC has a quota system of sorts for delegate and the RNC doesn't. Attending a national convention is expensive, and requires taking time off from work or being retired so you do tend to have more affluent people attending.

I agree philosophically with SamClem that racial diversity isn't all that important compared to other forms of diversity, but if you are minority watching the RNC, and seeing so few non white faces I don't think this is a good thing.

[FUEGO]

Originally Posted by bright eyed

I guess you see no possibilities between what the RNC reflects now and forcing them...I'd like to think there might be more nuanced/proactive solutions...but the attitude so far does not reflect much interest in the subject...

I think the RNC should do whatever they think is in their best interest. If winning elections and promulgating their policies is their main goal, and increasing the number of minorities in their ranks will help them achieve that goal, then they would be smart to actively recruit voting minorities.

Is that what you were looking for someone to say?

Do you want them to pepper the audience with a couple of token minorities sprinkled throughout? I'd hate to think that political parties would pander to the electorate!

To answer your direct question in your OP: "Is it possible for the GOP to recruit more minorities successfully or is it too late?" - I think it is possible for the GOP to recruit more minorities successfully. It is not too late. I don't think anything in the mainstream GOP platform is inconsistent with minorities.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by bright eyed

I
I am bothered that the president could potentially come from a party that has such low membership from people of a variety or racial and ethnic backgrounds.

If Obama wins, will you be bothered that a black man, representing a racial group that is only approx 12% of the US population, and backed by a party that is disproportionately black, is now president of a nation that us mostly white? Should whites feel suddenly part of an "oppressed majority" like Su'nis have been in Iraq? "Help, I'm being oppressed!"

Of course not.

It's time to get beyond race--let it go! It is finally (thankfully!) of no greater importance than eye color. Obama's strong showing and wide acceptance (and the admirable way he's conducted himself in the campaign with regard to racial issues) demonstrate this very well. Except for a very few bigots (of all races--but generally of the older generation)to be found in a few dim corners of society--people who will leave the demographic only when the grim reaper takes them--nobody gives a darn about a person's race. Don't mourn--celebrate! This day's been long in coming, thousands of people died for it and dreamed of it.

The only people I see doing the racial bean count anymore are those who make money or political hay from it. They are dinosaurs.

[ziggy29]

Originally Posted by clifp

Actually, I think Bright Eyes makes a fair point, looking at this years RNC it does look like a bunch of old white folks, long term I don't think this is good for the GOP. Being in Hawaii, I never expect to attend a public event and see a majority of middle age haoles, but the McCain events I've been to are just that.

Yes, and the Democrats want to keep it that way. Look at what they do when women or blacks dare to be prominent conservatives who stray from their expected place in politics. Slime and personal attacks all the way. Gotta keep them on the Democratic plantation, don't you know...

Let someone like Clarence Thomas or Sarah Palin challenge the Democratic Party's stranglehold on women and minorities in the highest positions, and watch the attack machine rev up into high gear.

[ladelfina]

Since pictures are worth a thousand words:

the bottom image of the oldsters in pink, etc. is from the Democratic convention..they look like a hoot!
You can see their handmade "Obama for Change" sign.

The photos did not paste in the order I loaded them.

[clifp]

Looking at the pictures it seems to me that minorities are equally underrepresented, but the Democrats clearly discriminate against us chronologically gifted folks

[bright eyed]

Originally Posted by samclem

If Obama wins, will you be bothered that a black man, representing a racial group that is only approx 12% of the US population, and backed by a party that is disproportionately black, is now president of a nation that us mostly white? Should whites feel suddenly part of an "oppressed majority" like Su'nis have been in Iraq? "Help, I'm being oppressed!"

Of course not.

It's time to get beyond race--let it go! It is finally (thankfully!) of no greater importance than eye color. Obama's strong showing and wide acceptance (and the admirable way he's conducted himself in the campaign with regard to racial issues) demonstrate this very well. Except for a very few bigots (of all races--but generally of the older generation)to be found in a few dim corners of society--people who will leave the demographic only when the grim reaper takes them--nobody gives a darn about a person's race. Don't mourn--celebrate! This day's been long in coming, thousands of people died for it and dreamed of it.

The only people I see doing the racial bean count anymore are those who make money or political hay from it. They are dinosaurs.

I NEVER said the race/ethnicity of the person running - but if the thousands of people standing in support of them are so stark in that element, then yes - that is of concern to me and how he will operate as a president.

I LOVE Obama's take on race and diversity - it's incredible to me that the nominee of a major party embraces and articluates it so well. I'm jumpin for joy. But he might not be the president...

[haha]

These political threads are hazardous to the board. It's like getting drunk- fun but you may say some regrettable things.

Ha

[ladelfina]

Clif, the bottom image of the oldsters in pink, etc. is from the Democratic convention..they look like a hoot!

The pictures didn't paste in in the order I wanted. tho' they are all near the same size some pasted as 'images' and others as 'thumbnails'.

[MGYog]

Originally Posted by samclem

If Obama wins, will you be bothered that a black man, representing a racial group that is only approx 12% of the US population, and backed by a party that is disproportionately black, is now president of a nation that us mostly white?

Last time I looked, Obama was 50% black, and 50% white. Why are we calling him a black man?

[samclem]

Originally Posted by MGYog

Last time I looked, Obama was 50% black, and 50% white. Why are we calling him a black man?

Because that has been the convention in the United States. And because he calls himself black.

Most anthropologists and other scientists who study the changes in the human species reject the idea of "race." From a scientific standpoint, there's no such thing as distinct races. The term and it's connotations are just holdovers from our ignorant past.

[ladelfina]

and because that's what's deathly important to a certain subset.

"Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," [Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn] Westmoreland said.

TheHill.com

Nice one! Let's have a round of applause for our winner, who finally came out with "uppity"!!!!!



New definitions:
1 house = elitist
8-10 houses = not elitist

grew up with single mom = elitist
Admiral's son = not elitist

Elitist has been extensively employed as a euphemism, a code word. for "uppity".
Now it's out in the open.


The subliminal and not-so-subliminal message of the past year has been that Obama does not KNOW HIS PLACE.

I've no doubt that what Westmoreland thinks is not that Obama is elitist.. it's that he dares to fully join a very elite club. The audacity.

[Cantuar]

Well, ladelfina, I see you're getting to grips with the narrative. Wonderful, innit?

[clifp]

Originally Posted by ladelfina

Clif, the bottom image of the oldsters in pink, etc. is from the Democratic convention..they look like a hoot!

The pictures didn't paste in in the order I wanted. tho' they are all near the same size some pasted as 'images' and others as 'thumbnails'.

I got that maybe I'm being too literal but I see 1/2 dozen old Obama supporters vs several hundred kids, both crowds look pretty white to me.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by ladelfina

Nice one! Let's have a round of applause for our winner, who finally came out with "uppity"!!!!!
. . .
I've no doubt that what Westmoreland thinks is not that Obama is elitist.. it's that he dares to fully join a very elite club. The audacity.

Kinda tortured cause-effect, dontcha think? As you apaprently are privy to the "codewords" she uses, could you just drop the final link in place and tell us the reason that Westmoreland believes Obama should not be admitted to the "club?" Enquiring minds want to know . . . You've tarred Westmoreland, don't spare the feathers.


Maybe an "elitist" mindset isn't best defined by the material metrics of the "class struggle". Maybe elitists aren't found by looking at the sqare footage of their houses. After all, we all know wealthy people who are more approachable, more appreciative of the value of individual dignity, than other people with more modest economic resources. "Elitism" (or "uppitiness," though I think the terms have very different connotations), might not be a defined by a net worth, but by an attitude.

Maybe some believe the telling "bitter, clinging to their guns and religion" sniping cast the light on the man's true feelings of disdain for those not in his "club."

Rural America may save this nation from itself yet again.

[Texarkandy]

So, if we're gonna be all "diverse" now (Repubs & Dems) where's our atheist/agnostic political leaders at?

A 2001 survey I pulled up says we are (roughly):

80% various Christian denominations (inclusive of 25% Catholic)

15% No Religion/Atheist/Agnostic

1.4% Jewish (boy are they overrepresented in public life or what!)

less than 1% each of Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist

[Cantuar]

As Sam Harris said in Letter to a Christian Nation, being atheist (or, at least, acknowledging in public that you're atheist) is a "perfect impediment" to holding high political office in this country. People have said time and again they'd prefer to vote for a Muslim than an atheist, despite not trusting Muslims, because "at least they believe in something."