Charles Murray of the conservative American Enterprise Institute
plays dumb:
[S]omething has happened to define conservatism in the minds of Asians as deeply unattractive, despite all the reasons that should naturally lead them to vote for a party that is identified with liberty, opportunity to get ahead, and economic growth. I propose that the explanation is simple. Those are not the themes that define the Republican Party in the public mind. Republicans are seen by Asians—as they are by Latinos, blacks, and some large proportion of whites—as the party of Bible-thumping, anti-gay, anti-abortion creationists. Factually, that’s ludicrously inaccurate. In the public mind, except among Republicans, that image is taken for reality.
How can conservatives fix their electoral problems if they can't even properly diagnose the symptoms? Go tell deeply Democratic Silicon Valley, or deeply Democratic NYC, or deeply Democratic Research Triangle in North Carolina, or deeply Democratic Seattle that those national centers of economic growth and entrepreneurship are somehow incompatible with liberal values.
It's the opposite, in fact—those bastions of economic development and job creation are deeply Democratic because they've realized that government is a partner in economic development (from education to infrastructure), and that tolerance allows you to draw from the most creative and talented individuals in (literally) the world.
More below the fold.
Now Murray takes this broader ignorance, and applies it narrowly to Asians.
[T]here are reasons for Asian Americans not to like Democrats. Asians who became successful because everyone in the family worked two or three jobs (a common strategy behind Asian success) are likely to be offended by the liberal “You didn’t build that” mentality.
Holy fucking shit! Aside from the tired attempt to keep that "you didn't build that" nonsense alive (how'd it work out for Romney?), the fact that everyone in a family works together to achieve success is the perfect encapsulation of "you didn't build that"! We succeed collectively, not individually. It was telling that every single businessperson the GOP trotted out at its convention to hammer on that silly theme had benefitted directly from government largess (not to mention roads, educated employees, legal system, protective regulations, etc).
Murray thinks he knows what offends Asians. I'm not that arrogant. I don't presume to understand what motivated the Asian community to vote Democratically by even larger percentages than Latinos, but I'll theorize that the GOP's asshole, selfish, "I did it by myself fuck you" mentality played a role.
But that aside, I was more struck by this part, which I'll repeat for emphasis:
Republicans are seen by Asians—as they are by Latinos, blacks, and some large proportion of whites—as the party of Bible-thumping, anti-gay, anti-abortion creationists. Factually, that’s ludicrously inaccurate. In the public mind, except among Republicans, that image is taken for reality.
So Murray is pretending that the Republican Party is not Bible-thumping, anti-gay, anti-abortion creationists? Really?
In Maine, 79 percent of Democrats voted for marriage equality, along with 59 percent of independents. Among Republicans? It was 79 percent against. Seventy-five percent of Republicans in Maryland voted against equality. Seventy-eight percent in Minnesota tried to institutionalize anti-gay bigotry in the state constitution. And 85 percent of Republicans in Washington voted against equality.
The only thing surprising about those numbers is that the most recent comprehensive Pew poll on the topic found that "just" 70 percent of Republicans opposed equality. So a bunch of them continue to lie to pollsters, because when given the choice at the ballot box, even more Republicans vote against it.
What about creationism? I'll turn this one over to Gallup:
Those Democratic numbers are embarrassing enough, but three of every five Republicans is a creationist.
Finally, what kind of moron is going to believe that the GOP isn't obsessed with abortion? There are even more anti-choice zealots in the GOP than creationists. It wasn't Democrats nominating the likes of Richard Mourdock and Todd Akins.
For a a group that just got burned because it created a pre-election alternate reality, you'd think that conservatives would start learning their lesson and, you know, operate in the real world.
Also. (h/t)