Sarah Palin went to great lengths to allege that Barack Obama spoke differently to audiences in San Francisco than he did to audiences in Scranton. After examining the demographics of the delegates at the Republican Convention, it's clear why Sarah Palin only spoke to "small town America" last night; she hasn't yet had experience speaking to an audience that truly represents the United States population.
The demographic make-up of the Republican delegates is nearly identical to the population of Alaska(only with fewer black people and more Eskimos).
This probably comes as no surprise to those of you who have been playing "Spot the Black Dude" during RNC Liveblogs :)
RNC Demographics, of 2,380
Black Delegates: 1.5% (36 people)
Hispanic Delegates: 5%
Male Delegates: 68%
Female Delegates: 32%
Sources: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies; CBS/NY Times Poll
Note: Unlike the DNC, the RNC does not release its delegate breakdown, which is why alternative sources were relied upon for this diary. Both sources were cited by NPR on tonight's
All Things Considered.
It is also important to note that in 2004, the percentage of black RNC delegates was 6.7% -- a total of 167 delegates. They lost 130 over four years.
The Democrats rightly touted our convention as the most diverse in the history of our party.
Per the DNC, of the 4,400 delegates:
Minority delegates: 44%
Black delegates: 24%
Hispanic delegates: 12%
*Women slightly outnumber men for first time in convention history
The demographics of the DNC delegates are far more closely aligned with the population demographics of the United States of America, according to the 2006 U.S. Census:
U.S. total population (2006): 299,398,484
White alone (including White Hispanic): 74%
Black or African American alone: 13.4%
American Indian or Alaska Native alone: 0.68%
Asian alone: 4.4%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander alone: 0.14%
Some other race alone: 6.5%
Two or more races: 2.0%
The above numbers includes the Hispanic population, which broken out, is estimated to be 14.8%
In Sarah Palin's homestate of Alaska, as of the 2006 U.S. Census:
Alaska total population: 670,053
White: 70.7%
Black: 3.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native: 15.4%
Asian: 4.6%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.6%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin: 5.6%
One area where Alaska and the U.S. population ARE similar is in the percentage of women, which according to the 2006 Census is 48.3% in Alaska, 50.7% in the U.S. But Sarah Palin's candidacy does not seem to help in bringing additional women to the Republican party's biggest party. As I mentioned above, Republican male delegates outnumbered women, MORE than two to one.
Additionally, because the RNC will not release its delegate breakdown, I cannot find demographics relating to how many Asian delegates, Native American delegates, etc. are in attendance.
Here's the part where you're saying: "No Duh. Why is this diary worthy?"
We Kossacks play "Where's Waldo" trying to spot the minority delegates in the sea of white delegates night after night at this hee-haw jamboree. But when Rudy Giuliani launches an anti-"cosmopolitan" tirade (interesting coming from the former Mayor of New York City) and Sarah Palin touts small town American as the "real" America, the population in that room couldn't be further from it.
I sit here blogging in my Chicago living room on my Wi-fi connection, wearing Gap from head-to-toe and watching my cable news (proud to be an MSNBC viewer), but I never forget that my grandfather immigrated here from Mexico sixty years, ago after fighting for the Mexican army in World War II. He had already survived malaria AND cancer, and the Midwest he arrived in looked a lot like the floor of the Republican Convention. So did the places he worked, shopped, lived.
Now, my 82-year-old grandfather is here to cast his vote for Barack Obama. He worked in factories before the Civil Rights Movement, and endured condescention and prejudice because of how he looked and spoke. His name sounded different.
The country my grandfather fought and still fights for is an America where your name is never something that you should be ashamed of. That, friends, is REAL patriotism, real pride in your country. The ability to stand up, hold your head high, and say, "This country belongs to me as much as anyone else," and actually believe it.
That's an America that Michelle Obama will be proud of, that my grandfather will be proud of, that I will be proud of. The real America doesn't need a "small town" view, it needs a better worldview.