Republicans on the Road to Demographic Self-Destruction
Advocates, Congress, Demographics, Election 2008, Immigration Blog, Integration, Research Add comments
Photo by Jeremy Brooks.
A slew of data from the 2008 election, released late last month by the U.S. Census Bureau, underscores—yet again—that Latinos constitute the fastest growing share of the electorate in the United States. Yet many Republican politicians seem to be going out of their way to alienate Latino voters. In an effort to appeal to the “base” of ultra-conservative whites needed to win Republican primaries, many in the GOP are trampling upon the Latinos they very well might need to win general elections. As the political theater surrounding the Sotomayor nomination illustrates well, a growing number of Republicans are trying their hardest to swim against the demographic tide. It is unlikely that they’ll be able to keep their heads above water for very long.
According to the latest Census data, there were 2.2 million more Latino voters in 2008 than there were in 2004—an increase of 28 percent. Only the rate of increase in the number of Asian voters (21%) comes close to matching this. In terms of sheer numbers, the growth in the number of Latino voters is rivaled only by the increase in the number of African American voters (up by 2.1 million) between 2004 and 2008. Large increases in the numbers of Latino voters were also seen in key states such as Florida (a 49% increase between 2004 and 2008), Nevada (a 65% increase), and Pennsylvania (an 83% increase). In the 2008 election, Latinos accounted for one-fifth of all voters in California and Texas, and one-third in New Mexico.
Perhaps these facts explains why Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) commented to a reporter “tell them I’m sorry” upon announcing that he would oppose the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to become the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Hatch joins the majority of Senate Republicans, including even Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), who also have indicated they will vote “no” on Sotomayor’s nomination. Apparently, they are choosing not to heed the words of Sen. Olympia Snow (R-Maine), who lamented today that the “no” votes raise “a serious concern” about alienating Latino voters, and that “we can ill afford to lose their support in the future when we’re attempting to rebuild the Republican Party nationally.”
If Republicans are hoping to capture more of the Latino vote than they did in the 2008 election, they might want to re-think their approach to issues of concern to Latinos.
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August 5th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
The Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot on many levels with their immigration attitude. Here in NH many of the immigrants I know are citizens, very conservative and have always voted Republican - not any more. With the current Republican attitude toward immigrants every one of them voted for Obama this last election. They aren’t going to vote for a candidate that favors treating immigrants as sub-human.
How we conduct ourselves in the area of human rights speaks to the honor and integrity of our country. It defines us as a people and that trumps all else. We can not prosper while defiling the basic humanity of our immigrant population.