July 10, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Is the Republican Party heading for political armageddon?
Lawrence O’Donnell pointed out something on his show tonight that never occurred to me. The Democratic Party has won the popular vote in all but one presidential election since 1992. That’s 4 of the last 5, and it includes the 2000 presidential election that was awarded to Republican George W. Bush by the Supreme Court (he lost the popular vote to Al Gore).
A crucial component of these popular vote wins by Democrats has been increased support from minorities. In each election since 1992, minority groups increasingly voted Democratic. The obvious flip side is that Republicans are increasingly becoming the party of white people. This is a trend that shows no signs of slowing down.
So the question is, in an increasingly diverse country, are Republicans heading for political armageddon?
Joy Reid (@TheReidReport) thinks so:
In the short term it makes sense for Romney and the Republicans to just maximize the white vote the most they can for this upcoming election. The problem for them is long term…In the long term this is armageddon for the Republican Party as the country…the younger cohort is much more diverse. By the time my 12-year-old is able to vote in a presidential election, we’re looking at very close to almost half of that electorate being minority. What are Republicans going to do long term if this young generation of people grow up thinking that they are extremists?
Now you see why Republicans are trying to suppress the minority vote with their undemocratic voter ID laws.
dks
