I just read Renee in Ohio's excellent diary and thought I'd present a contrast to it.
I've always felt the Republican party is the party of people like Renee, only scared. Scared White Folk. It comes to mind every time I see one and I don't even need to look to see the "R" behind the name to know it. The fear oozes out of their pores and forms a diaphanous film around them, shielding them from the inevitable acknowledgement that their days of domination in this country are coming to an end. They know it because of faces like mine and it scares them witless.
My face is the face of America's future and it can't be stopped like the sea can't be stopped from moving the shore. Slowly, quietly and relentlessly faces like mine are changing the way this country thinks and operates. Short of rounding us all up and disposing of us, which would be a pretty smelly business and scare away the tourists, we will be taking over one day. The Democratic party already knows it and embraces it. It's those like Rep. Tancredo (R) of Colorado with their fear of "the cult of multiculturalism" who haven't accepted it.
My face is multicultural, multiethnic, multireligious, and multinational. It is also female, which luckily doesn't invoke as much suspicion. Women are already the majority anyway and potentially valuable for a good time, regardless of background, for the male SWF. I'd hate to think how much harder life could have been if this mildly threatening blend had manifested itself as a man in the Scared White Folk's world. Of course, I could've taken the Malkin road and joined forces with the modern "conservative" movement and become a token non-white in their ranks. It would've gotten me some sweet spots up front in televised conventions and such, but I chose to join those who have a soul and who share my concern for our fellow Americans who are also working their way up from the dark valley.
I've been able to get by pretty well thanks to good "unaccented" English skills and a perplexing look not easily categorized. I don't know if this is better or worse for the SWF. They can't lump me quickly into "worth my time", or "beneath my notice", so I get put into "I'll need to further investigate in order to decide whether or not to include her in our club." I've already infiltrated their club and have gone for years without any of the SWF having a clue until the facts come out, then there's the freaked-out look, like they just found out their favorite purebred retriever was grandsired by a horny mutt. It's actually quite hilarious and at the same time a little sad that there are still people in this country, founded on a raucous blend of humanity whose strongest common trait was the basic desire to live free, should still be so averse to exploring the wide mysteries of the world around them. How sad! Oh well, I suppose if you already have the best views from the top of the mountain, you really don't care to know what those below you in the valley are seeing. Unless you're a Democrat.