Edited by Victoria Denholm
The Republican Choice
Published in Rzeczpospolita
(Poland) on 7 November 2012
by Bartosz Węglarczyk (link to original)
The Republican Party has a huge problem. If the GOP does not change, it will lose the next election even more severely.
Mitt Romney lost this election for many reasons. It was not only through his own fault, as he could not have predicted that Sandy would help the president in office, but ultimately the biggest problem was Romney himself.
He would have been a brilliant presidential candidate in the 1980s: white, rich, wearing well-sewn suits and having an impeccable haircut. He is a representation of the America that is now fading away, a representation of a country whose fortune was determined by white families living in the suburbs and driving expensive cars between the mall and the tennis club.
Romney has lost in Florida (we do not know the official results, but the state will go to Obama) because the president was endorsed by thousands of Latino voters there. For the same reason Romney lost in New Mexico.
Of course, Obama gained the support of the black communities. He also has the support of ethnic and LGBTQ minorities, as well as the support of young voters.
The Republican Party must regain those voters if they want to win future elections. The African-American community now knows that their voice can help decide the outcome of the election and they will have strong voting numbers, no matter the color of the future candidates.
In the U.S., there is also a growing number of Latinos — in some states they are going to be the predominant power. As of now, they perceive the GOP with fear and consider them xenophobes fighting against immigration. Whether Romney is really one of them (which in fact he is not) is a secondary matter for Latino communities.
Even on Tuesday night (Polish time), the conservative commentators pointed out this flaw with the Republican Party. Without the Hispanic vote, they will lose Florida, New Mexico and other states, forever. If ethnic groups hold their Democrat allegiances, the election results will always be the same.
Romney did not manage to win their support, even though he fought hard. He did not because these minorities see the Republican Party to be completely unreliable and out of this world.
In the next election, the GOP will face the decision: Either they propose a white candidate of the establishment once again and condemn him for a defeat, or they choose to transform their platform into a more moderate one. A party that is fully conservative on every field and question has no chance for success any more.
Mitt Romney lost this election for many reasons. It was not only through his own fault, as he could not have predicted that Sandy would help the president in office, but ultimately the biggest problem was Romney himself.
He would have been a brilliant presidential candidate in the 1980s: white, rich, wearing well-sewn suits and having an impeccable haircut. He is a representation of the America that is now fading away, a representation of a country whose fortune was determined by white families living in the suburbs and driving expensive cars between the mall and the tennis club.
Romney has lost in Florida (we do not know the official results, but the state will go to Obama) because the president was endorsed by thousands of Latino voters there. For the same reason Romney lost in New Mexico.
Of course, Obama gained the support of the black communities. He also has the support of ethnic and LGBTQ minorities, as well as the support of young voters.
The Republican Party must regain those voters if they want to win future elections. The African-American community now knows that their voice can help decide the outcome of the election and they will have strong voting numbers, no matter the color of the future candidates.
In the U.S., there is also a growing number of Latinos — in some states they are going to be the predominant power. As of now, they perceive the GOP with fear and consider them xenophobes fighting against immigration. Whether Romney is really one of them (which in fact he is not) is a secondary matter for Latino communities.
Even on Tuesday night (Polish time), the conservative commentators pointed out this flaw with the Republican Party. Without the Hispanic vote, they will lose Florida, New Mexico and other states, forever. If ethnic groups hold their Democrat allegiances, the election results will always be the same.
Romney did not manage to win their support, even though he fought hard. He did not because these minorities see the Republican Party to be completely unreliable and out of this world.
In the next election, the GOP will face the decision: Either they propose a white candidate of the establishment once again and condemn him for a defeat, or they choose to transform their platform into a more moderate one. A party that is fully conservative on every field and question has no chance for success any more.
Next article![]( "A Gogol Recipe for the Ideal President")
