Yes, the Republicans have driven away yet another group from their rapidly shrinking party:
The announcement by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania that he was switching parties and becoming a Democrat leaves no Republican Jew in the U.S. Senate, and just one in the entire U.S. Congress.
Eric Cantor (R-VA) is now the last Jewish representative in the entire Republican congressional caucus, a caucus also devoid of any black members.
The GOP has effectively become what their policies have favored: A party of, by, and for the white evangelical male. And luckily for us, and the country as a whole, this is a party whose influence has a ceiling much lower than where they'd like it to be.
Now not all that much was said in Senator Specter's statement about the evangelical's domination over GOP politics other than speaking out against his former party's aversion to medical research:
I take on this complicated run for reelection because I am deeply concerned about the future of our country and I believe I have a significant contribution to make on many of the key issues of the day, especially medical research. NIH funding has saved or lengthened thousands of lives, including mine, and much more needs to be done.
But I think it's safe to assume that this part of his statement is a microcosm of moderate Republicans' disgust at the evangelical influence on party leadership, willing to ignore not only common sense but the will of the people in order to please a hardcore religious faction that operates well out of the mainstream of the American electorate.
Not only the American electorate, but the American Jewish vote as well. There is a reason that 78% of American Jews supported Barack Obama in his presidential campaign. There is a reason that there are now 12 Jewish Senators that caucus with the Democrats and zero that caucus with the GOP. American Jews are, for the most part, completely turned off by the GOP leadership's horrifically conservative positions on all social issues, even though the GOP generally is a loyal supporter of Israel.
And when conservative media outlets like Fox News use social wedge issues in their criticism of Specter's decision, it drives Jews even further away from their party:
The world changed today. Senator Specter became a Democrat. Like gays coming out of the closet, Senator Specter came out of his.
All I can say is that that Republicans keep losing the support of social and/or ethnic minorities, the better our chances at achieving real, substantive change in the country. If the Republicans want to write off blacks, Hispanics, Jews, the GLBT community, atheists, etc., fine, let them continue with their division. It just means, when the important issues come up, they won't have much to work with other than white evangelicals. They may be able to scream a lot, but they won't be able to influence policy as before.