The U.S. Needs Informed Minority Voters
The View from the Middle
There are two groups in this country that account for about 25% of the
populace that are caught between the arrogance of the Democrat party and the
ignorance of Republicans. They will,
however, for the foreseeable future be the battleground over which our two
political parties will fight.
Many of you would say, “the war is over, and the Democrats have won”. In the last presidential election, Obama
captured 71% of the Hispanic vote and 93% of African American votes. Also, minority turnout increased by 20% in
2008, and in 2012 Black American turnout actually outperformed Whites. But there is a profound disconnect between
the aspirations and beliefs of these constituencies and their partisan voting
record. Let’s look at the Hispanic
community first.
The President promised comprehensive immigration reform back in
2008. He made it a major plank in his
platform and then he promptly turned his back on this group for the next six
years. Even today he has only cobbled
together a short-term, temporary reprieve because he was unable to work with
Congress to deliver anything more meaningful.
The Democrat party also has major conflicts with Latino beliefs on
social issues. 53% of this highly
Catholic group is pro-life vs. only 32% of Democrats. The Democrat platform actually calls for
abortion on demand and has all but eliminated God from its content.
Unemployment is another top concern amongst Latinos, and here again, the
Democrats and Obama have disappointed.
In the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hispanic
unemployment continues to stubbornly stay more than two points higher than
white unemployment.
And, the top issue in the Hispanic community is education. In this area, the Democrat party offers
public schools or nothing. They seem to
want “choice” in only one area but coercion in education, healthcare and even
energy. Whether it is charter schools or
vouchers, what Latinos need in education is “choice”.
President Obama and the Democrat party have also disappointed the Black
community. The African American
unemployment rate is still in the double digits, and more than twice that of
whites. For young Blacks, ages 20 to 24,
unemployment is absolutely demoralizing at just under 20%.
Blacks also understand the connection between education and
success. They are similar to the
Hispanics in this area. They feel their
young people are trapped in subpar schools and thus don’t have the same
opportunity as Whites and Asians. Deep down,
they want the “choice” to send their children to good schools that will allow
them to compete in the job markets of the future.
African Americans also have a very different take on the issue of same
sex marriage than the Democrat party. A
Pew Research Study done in 2013 showed that only 40% of Blacks support gay
marriage while 73% of liberals do.
Finally, one of the biggest hopes of Black America was that Barack Obama
would heal the racial divide in this country.
In 2014 we have a Black President and Attorney General and 45 members of
Congress (8.3% of membership) vs. just 6 Black Congressmen in 1965. We have made great progress, but it seems in
the wake of Ferguson Missouri and Eric Garner in New York, that our racial
divide has never been greater. Why is
that?
Despite his statement that “there is no Black America and White America”
President Obama and AG Eric Holder have systematically approached every racial
incident form Professor Gates to Trayvon Martin with a built in bias of their
own. They clearly prefer to use these
moments to divide and inflame rather than to heal and unite.
Both parties need to pay attention to these two constituencies. The Democrats should take this column as a
warning. Change your platform to start
delivering actual results, or lose your absolute hold over them.
Republicans clearly line up better with these two constituencies on
social issues like abortion and same sex marriage, but they need to improve
their message to convince them of this harmony.
Conservatives could also market themselves as the party of private
sector jobs and school choice, but they need to reach out to these groups and
make these positions clear. If they
don’t, they will continue to lose their support and pay for it at the ballot
box.
If this battle is going to deliver anything positive for the country,
these two groups will play a key role.
They cannot blindly support either party. They must demand results on jobs and
education and sanity on social issues.
They must become the “informed voters” that our Founders so desperately
wanted for our country. Accountability,
not blind allegiance is the way to change this country for the good. If you are Hispanic or Black, demand it
before you cast your vote. Actually, we
ALL need to do this.
