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Friday, January 14, 2011

The GOP's Ambassador

When he isn't advising folks to quit speaking the language of living in the "ghetto" (he says -- I'm not kidding -- he meant the Jewish ghetto, so presumably, his objection is to Hebrew), Newt Gingrich likes to think of himself as a "go-between" for the GOP and minority communities. No, I don't get where he got that idea either.

And now, Gingrich has started talking about what the GOP needs to do to build upon their 2010 victories in 2012. In order to rack up a suitable governing majority to begin 2013:
Republicans need to spend at least 30 percent of their time campaigning to black, Hispanic and other minority communities ....

Interesting! And what should they say in those meetings?
....and emphasize lowering taxes instead of social programs such as welfare.

Great plan, Newt! Finger on the pulse.

Via Chait.
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4 comments:

  1. N. Friedman9:50 AM

    I suspect his agenda will not play well among African Americans. However, his message does have some traction among Hispanics. So, dismissing his efforts as not having his finger on the pulse is, I think, not well considered, most particularly given the growing Hispanic population.

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  2. PG1:52 AM

    I doubt that Gingrich's economic message has substantial traction among Latino voters. Too many of the taxes he wants lowered are irrelevant to the Latino population, which is even less likely than the American population as a whole to be affected by the estate, dividend and highest-bracket income taxes. The taxes likely to hit the growing Latino population of the South and West harder are sales and property taxes, and these are matters for state/local government and none of Gingrich's business.)

    He'd be better off catering to them on social issues (e.g. promoting the GOP's support for vouchers for parochial schools). In many small towns of the South and West, Latinos are practically the only Catholics around and suffer from discrimination such as difficulty in obtaining permits to start daycares and schools out of Catholic churches. Making clear that the GOP supports Catholics in these endeavors would probably be helpful. The key is to emphasize that the GOP wants to reduce the role of government not because Republicans don't care about people's needs, but because Republicans want communities, particularly ones of faith, to take charge of such matters.

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  3. Kevin9:09 AM

    PG said, "the GOP wants to reduce the role of government not because Republicans don't care about people's needs, but because Republicans want communities, particularly ones of faith, to take charge of such matters."

    Sorry, that won't wash. We don't have an established/monopoly church that provides hospitals and almshouses. If the government wants to relegate my need for safety-net support to a "faith community," unconcerned as to whether I belong to one (as required by the First Amendment), and if I belong to one, whether it is capable of meeting those needs, the government does not care about me, period.

    Sorry, folks, like it or not, in this century and this civilization, the government represents the community, it is "We the People."

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  4. PG11:06 AM

    Kevin,

    I'm talking about how a political party markets itself to a particular ethnic group. When that group is majority Catholic -- a faith that once served many governmental roles and continues to be a huge provider of services ranging from health care to adoption -- there's far less concern about "whether I belong to one (as required by the First Amendment), and if I belong to one, whether it is capable of meeting those needs."

    When you look at polling of Latino voters, they align with the GOP far more on social issues than economic ones. Therefore, a smart strategy for the GOP is to try to recast their economic policies as social ones.

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