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Why the GOP Can't Win With Minorities (Excellent Column)
WSJ ^ | 3/16/09 | Shelby Steele

Posted on 03/16/2009 4:14:41 AM PDT by RangerM

Today conservatism is stigmatized in our culture as an antiminority political philosophy. In certain quarters, conservatism is simply racism by another name. And minorities who openly identify themselves as conservatives are still novelties, fish out of water.

Yet there is now the feeling that without an appeal to minorities, conservatism is at risk of marginalization. The recent election revealed a Republican Party -- largely white, male and Southern -- seemingly on its way to becoming a "regional" party. Still, an appeal targeted just at minorities -- reeking as it surely would of identity politics -- is anathema to most conservatives. Can't it be assumed, they would argue, that support of classic principles -- individual freedom and equality under the law -- constitutes support of minorities? And, given the fact that blacks and Hispanics often poll more conservatively than whites on most social issues, shouldn't there be an easy simpatico between these minorities and political conservatism?

{more at link}

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Front Page News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: blackvote; conservatism; elections; gop; hispanics; hispanicvote; identitypolitics; minorities; politics; racism; republican; shelbysteele
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To: jveritas

I didn’t know I was making any holier than thou statements. I was trying to lay out facts. You seem rather sensitive to that stuff and quick with the name-calling. I prefer a rational discussion.

You say that a majority of blacks vote for government handouts and there is no way on the planet Republicans can get even 25% of the black vote. I am saying that fatalism in communicating a message to all of America is a bad form of conservatism. Your wish to give up is bad for conservatism and I don’t think those sentiments should be left unchallenged. Conservatives do have a positive message for blacks and hispanics, and making sure that gets communicated is an important task. I don’t believe that quitting is an option, which is what you seem to believe.

There are people (many of them minorities) who eloquently communicate conservative ideals and principles in ways that connect with minorities. I think those voices should be elevated and progress will be made.

You are basically saying in crass generalizations that this is who almost all minority people are so we should just give up on trying to communicate to them. I don’t object to that because it’s racist, I object to it because it is an example of lazy thinking and the kind of thinking that destroys the conservative future.


141 posted on 03/16/2009 8:13:34 AM PDT by mongrel
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To: jveritas
Validating Victimhood
142 posted on 03/16/2009 8:14:34 AM PDT by MrB (The 0bamanation: Marxism, Infanticide, Appeasement, Depression, Thuggery, and Censorship)
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To: jveritas
But if you`ve read mongrel,post 124, then even a simple breakdown shows you are at the very least a carelessly incendiary person,tell me, what percentage of each minority group is actually on welfare?I believe you said all were.I was trying to point out what he said,a majority of AMERICANS take advantage of some form of the government teat.But my basic statement stands,people like you sure as hell make educating and turning opinions freaking hard.People accused him of being a liberal troll,I won`t comment on that,but inflammatory name callers, like you,however inadvertently,sure as hell give the lefties plenty of ammo,you are not helping here.
143 posted on 03/16/2009 8:19:03 AM PDT by nomad (`)
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To: jveritas
What else will make them vote democrat besides the left wing liberal economics?

We could start with the thesis of the article.

144 posted on 03/16/2009 8:20:40 AM PDT by CharacterCounts (November 4, 2008 - the day America drank the Kool-Aid)
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To: Evoter
Like this:

1977 CPAC Speech by Governor Ronald Reagan.

Okay, easier said than done. However, President Reagan unashamedly and courageously articulated 'Conservatism' not 'Reaganism'. There will (Hope?) be someone who can pick up this banner and carry it once again in today's world, which is hostile to these ideals. The words he spoke in 1977 are just as true today as they ever were.


145 posted on 03/16/2009 8:20:42 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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To: RangerM

I would wager that a good indicator of party choice would be the propensity to buy lottery tickets. It is extremely difficult to recruit emotion-driven individuals without abandoning your principles.


146 posted on 03/16/2009 8:21:33 AM PDT by monocle
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To: mongrel
Look at the history of elections and tell me when is the last time Republicans got more than 20% of the black vote? Not in 40 years. This is the fact and that is reality and it is total waste of time, money, and energy to think that this can be changed. The fact is that Republicans had won and will certainly win elections with 90% of blacks voting against them so going after the black vote is waste time and energy because it is something that cannot be changed and that does not effect the elections results.
147 posted on 03/16/2009 8:22:08 AM PDT by jveritas (God Bless our brave troops)
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To: nomad

I do not know where he got his statistics but he is wrong and the statistics that he brought is wrong, yes statistics can biased and wrong. The fact is that 13% of the population live in poverty and all of them are all on welfare, hard welfare, and not just indirect welfare, so the number that 2% to 6% live on welfare does not make any sense.


148 posted on 03/16/2009 8:25:25 AM PDT by jveritas (God Bless our brave troops)
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To: jveritas
What else will make them vote democrat besides the left wing liberal economics?

I don't think it's economics at all!

I am an instructor at a university teaching high-level computer certification. Almost all my students work in industry, often making a very good wage. Some of my students are black, and they do better than most whites in the job market. Why? Because employers absolutely LOVE to hire them. It shows that those employers are diverse and non-racist. So all things considered, if the white and black enigneer are the same in all their certifications and experiences, the black person wins the job. The same goes for females. A black, hispanic female engineer with experience and certs--Heaven, to the Human Resources dept!

Now, this doesn't mean that a bunch of whites aren't being employed. There are way too few blacks going through all the hard work and study to be a successful network engineer. So most of these jobs go to whites, or I should say, most of these jobs go to the engineers from the largest demographic group, white males, who seem to be attracted the most to these type jobs. Call us nerds if you will, but there you have it.

Why do they vote, often AGAINST their economic interests?

Because the dems have been successful at telling them what they want to hear: The MAN is keeping you down.

Lately the've been able to modify this to the Republican Man is keeping you down.

Final note: Far more blacks I know are racists (hate or dislike whites and hispanics) than whites, who mostly walk on eggshells to avoid saying anything that will get them fired.

149 posted on 03/16/2009 8:29:18 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
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To: RangerM
Can't it be assumed, they would argue, that support of classic principles -- individual freedom and equality under the law -- constitutes support of minorities?

When minorities are programmed to continually revel in self-pity, universal principles mean nothing because it is believed they don't apply and will never apply to them.

150 posted on 03/16/2009 8:31:41 AM PDT by TheThinker (Shame and guilt mongering is the Left's favorite tool of control.)
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To: ansel12
I checked out the source (Joint Center etc.,etc,) and I don't find where this is any more reliable. I would tend to believe the daughter of Mr King before a think tank whose main objective is to only further the cause of a single race,instead of trying to empower and strenghten that same race through truth.Knowledge is only good if it empowers you in a positive way.
(but,then again,that's just my humble opinion....)
151 posted on 03/16/2009 8:32:42 AM PDT by gimme1ibertee ("No pale pastels,but bold colors".....Ronnie,we sure do miss you,sir!)
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To: Servant of the Cross

Oh,Ronnie,Ronnie....(sniff) We miss you so!


152 posted on 03/16/2009 8:33:32 AM PDT by gimme1ibertee ("No pale pastels,but bold colors".....Ronnie,we sure do miss you,sir!)
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To: jveritas

Isn’t that the 64,000 question?

As long as you accept that’s the *only* reason, it kinda makes the search for that answer impossible, no?

Give people more credit, (no pun intended) perhaps there other reasons, self inflicted reasons.

Barack the Magic Negro anyone? Yes I know a black writer from the LA Times wrote it first, but why go there, it only reinforces the stereotype? What’s the upside, there is none, it’s stupid and self defeating.


153 posted on 03/16/2009 8:34:24 AM PDT by Evoter
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To: Servant of the Cross

Thank you and in this Regan’s 1977 CPAC speech we find a response to those who would stereotype blacks as “only” voting for welfare.

“The time has come for Republicans to say to black voters: Look, we offer principles that black Americans can, and do, support.” We believe in jobs, real jobs; we believe in education that is really education; we believe in treating all Americans as individuals and not as stereotypes or voting blocs”

Ronald Regan.....


154 posted on 03/16/2009 8:34:25 AM PDT by Evoter
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To: jveritas; RangerM
My wife's empoyers are originally from India. They've worked very hard and have achieved great success. They were huge supporters of GWB in 2004 and have been very reliable RNC donors. Somehow, they went to see Obamateur speak at a rally here and were in the front row. We have a very small non-caucasion population so it was probably just coincidence that a couple of regisered Republicans got great seats.

They flipped and decided to support Obamateur because "..looked into his eyse and saw he has a a dream. He came to this country just like us and can inspire others to live their dreams."

So, they saw him as an immigrant with a dream rather than an American with a plan. Too bad the dream was one of socialism and making succesful people like them the enemy. It is kind of funny because they are now very, very concerned with what is on the way. They have always wanted less red-tape/bureaucracy/taxes and to just make their living on their own. The Obamateur is making himself known as an enemy of business (when businesses are doing well, they do very well!) and that they are going to get killed with taxes. Their accountants are now more important than their salesforce- they'd rather try to restructure and minimize their liabilities than grow their companies!
155 posted on 03/16/2009 8:34:31 AM PDT by philled (This 'stimulus money' will stimulate just as 'protection money' protects. -- Rei Shinozuka)
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To: philled

As Rush said:

“Voting has consequences.”

Now they’ll get to see just what the consequences are. Sadly, so will the rest of us that wasn’t fooled.


156 posted on 03/16/2009 8:40:37 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
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To: RangerM

What Conservatives need is for minorities and others to start taking pride in self sufficiency. We need to convince these people that there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction to be gleaned from making it on your own. Zero is doing his best to indebt us so completely that we lose our freedoms as quickly as possible. He’s hoping that the 2010 election will be too late to reverse all his new Socialist programs. We have a real battle on our hands now. God be with us.


157 posted on 03/16/2009 8:41:44 AM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: jveritas

http://www.ncsl.org/statefed/welfare/caseloadwatch.htm

Number of families on welfare has fallen from 5 million in 1994 and leveled off at 2 million in 2004. I didn’t find statistics after that.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

There were 105 million households in the US in the 2000 census. Please tell me again how I am wrong now that I have laid out some sources for you.

I recognize these statistics are for households, not total population. It is probably true that people in poverty have larger households.

The problem with assuming that your 13% in poverty are all on welfare is that it doesn’t take much to get a large family under the federal poverty line. There are many conservative Christians, Amish, Mormons and others that have 6 or more children and do not receive government aid.

A family with 4 children is considered under the federal poverty line if it makes less than 29,500 per year. There are many areas of the country in which one can live well without needing that much cash flow.


158 posted on 03/16/2009 8:44:25 AM PDT by mongrel
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To: RangerM

A wonderful column in every way except the title. The title is both superficial and unnecessarily predictive. At best, it should read “Why the GOP Hasn’t Won Over Minorities Yet”.


159 posted on 03/16/2009 8:46:59 AM PDT by Albion Wilde ("Praise and worship" is my alternate lifestyle.)
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To: Evoter
I'm glad you read it. That paragraph did not escape my notice either. At the same time, I'm sure that President Reagan wouldn't advocate trying to pander to a segment of voters, be they African American or Women, just to win their temporary allegiance or votes if they didn't really believe in the principles and values. Hence, there are segments of each of these voters that Conservatism can ignore and not try to 'appeal' or 'communicate' to. This is the mistake of Michael Steele and others.
160 posted on 03/16/2009 8:47:26 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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