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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: Servant of the Cross

Thank you for the welcome!

I was not trying to divert from the point of the thread, I was just thinking that discussing creating a more diverse coalition without discussing women is fairly narrow. I should not have said it was a white make strategy, instead it’s a message that seems to currently be resonating with white males, a fact that is hard to ignore. The larger issue, speaking to all groups in a way that respects those groups without resorting to generalizations ie. “Minorities only vote based on welfare” or women only vote on xyz.


41 posted on 03/16/2009 5:44:48 AM PDT by Evoter
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To: jveritas
RE :”The residents of DC do not give a damn about school vouchers. They want welfare

LOL. So does most of american now and prefer it to jobs. Democrats (with republicans ) have created 'a nation of moochers' and Michelle Malkin says.

You miss my point. DC voters cant vote in federal elections anyway. The point is to make it a national issue and nationalize the minority victims of democrats . And the specific parents that do use these programs, however few in %, do care about their kids. That's why they are so important. Bush sold us out on NCLB to teachers union which Obama now likes.

My question is why republicans are not out there pointing out that poor kids are being kicked out of Obama’s kids private school by Obama and Pelosi

42 posted on 03/16/2009 5:45:46 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Keynesian Eco 101 : "If you won't spend your money WE WILL, and your kid's too!")
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To: Evoter

You are an Obama voter so please keep your advise to yourself.


43 posted on 03/16/2009 5:45:57 AM PDT by jveritas (God Bless our brave troops)
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To: jveritas

“Some” must not be as close to the problem as I am on a daily basis.


44 posted on 03/16/2009 5:47:48 AM PDT by pnut22
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To: RangerM

The Republican Mayor of Colorado Springs is Hispanic. So is the GOP county chairman. Obama barely got 39% of the vote in El Paso County. The county is only 14% Hispanic, but the vote about 50% Republican.


45 posted on 03/16/2009 5:48:08 AM PDT by cookcounty ("The Borrower is servant to the Lender." Proverbs 22:7)
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To: Evoter
Yes, minorities votes are based on welfare and affirmative action. This is not a disputable fact.
46 posted on 03/16/2009 5:48:29 AM PDT by jveritas (God Bless our brave troops)
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To: Servant of the Cross

The father of lies has a firm grip on our society,

making it worthy of ostracism and punishment for speaking the truth.


47 posted on 03/16/2009 5:48:53 AM PDT by MrB (The 0bamanation: Marxism, Infanticide, Appeasement, Depression, Thuggery, and Censorship)
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To: pnut22

Some are just afraid to speak the truth even on this forum. They know the truth but they are afraid to speak it.


48 posted on 03/16/2009 5:49:12 AM PDT by jveritas (God Bless our brave troops)
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To: Evoter

And women are the largest group collecting welfare. Go figure.


49 posted on 03/16/2009 5:50:33 AM PDT by pnut22
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To: MrB

You are correct in my experience!

Last year my daughter was single and an Obama girl.

This year its wedding bells and a rapid glide to the right.

It’s kind of entertaining to watch.


50 posted on 03/16/2009 5:52:30 AM PDT by cookcounty ("The Borrower is servant to the Lender." Proverbs 22:7)
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To: RangerM

Why the GOP Can’t Win With Minorities:

Answer is simple: Education

Conservative gameplan:
1) Battle like hell for a school voucher program
2) Remove NEA from education.Period.
3) Base scholarships on academic achievement rather than a quota system
4) Promote people like Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams as roll models rather than 50 cent and the NBA
5) Begin mentoring program where minorties teens can have hands on experience in the real world business environment.
6) marginalize the likes of Black Liberation Theology to the dust bin of history


51 posted on 03/16/2009 5:53:19 AM PDT by Le Chien Rouge
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To: Evoter
Republicans won all their elections without the minority vote. I hit a never with you Obama voter because it is the truth that most (not all) minorities vote for welfare, affirmative actions, and entitlements. You replied by the typical liberal answer of racism. You are the racist. You want blacks to remains on government welfare so they can keep voting for liberals and there is nothing more racist and more unhuman than that. You liberals have destroyed the black families since you enacted the great society. All what you wanted is to make a majority of them addicted on welfare and entitlement so they can give their vote in return. You liberals are the worst racists on the planet.
52 posted on 03/16/2009 5:55:13 AM PDT by jveritas (God Bless our brave troops)
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To: MrB

Amen to that. There is no doubt that our culture’s problems trace back to the ruin of marriage in the country. This has led to the huge increase in single/divorced women (and men) with children who are gravely harmed in the process. The father of lies knew exactly what to attack.


53 posted on 03/16/2009 5:56:56 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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To: cookcounty
Satan hates the family as a unit and as a tradition (God created it as the first human institution),

and has used humans' natural (sinful) tendencies to destroy it.

Look at almost every issue the left promotes, and it is destructive to the family.

Communism and Socialism all know that they can not survive with strong families. Strong families make strong communities, and strong communities keep government power in check. Break down the families, and the door is wide open to centralizing power in government. Once families break down through divorce, welfare, cohabitation, etc. government gets more and more involved in everyday life. More and more centralized government control.

54 posted on 03/16/2009 5:57:15 AM PDT by MrB (The 0bamanation: Marxism, Infanticide, Appeasement, Depression, Thuggery, and Censorship)
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To: jveritas

Well who wants a fishing pole, when you can get prefried chilean sea bass hot from the deli, and pay with a government issued credit card?


55 posted on 03/16/2009 6:00:17 AM PDT by pnut22
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To: MrB; Evoter
Did that racist really say this? What do we expect from liberals, they are all racists. Look at liberal and racist troll Evoter.
56 posted on 03/16/2009 6:01:20 AM PDT by jveritas (God Bless our brave troops)
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To: pnut22

It is simply human nature. Give people free stuff and they do not want to work.


57 posted on 03/16/2009 6:02:43 AM PDT by jveritas (God Bless our brave troops)
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To: pnut22

Teach a man to fish, and
>he’ll never be dependent on you again,
>you won’t be able to coerce him to do anything by withholding fish, and
>you’ll never be able to count on buying his vote by confiscating fish from those who catch them and giving them to him.


58 posted on 03/16/2009 6:02:48 AM PDT by MrB (The 0bamanation: Marxism, Infanticide, Appeasement, Depression, Thuggery, and Censorship)
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To: jveritas; Evoter

Evoter was right about the “women” demographic -

I expanded on it to explain WHY that demographic is an issue.


59 posted on 03/16/2009 6:03:55 AM PDT by MrB (The 0bamanation: Marxism, Infanticide, Appeasement, Depression, Thuggery, and Censorship)
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To: MrB

It’s to late to teach them to fish. They already get the Chilean sea bass free.


60 posted on 03/16/2009 6:04:13 AM PDT by pnut22
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