Male. Angry. Old. White. Rich. Bigoted. GOP, this is you.
I enjoyed Robert Draper's
article in
The New York Times Magazine. It always interesting to see how Republicans are reacting to their problems with the American electorate. There are others we've seen since the election. Some noting, like Draper's, that the Republicans are behind in their technological innovations. There are others calling for changes in the GOP's image and style. There are even a few calling for changing a few of the party's policy positions. But none of these is going to fix the modern Republican Party because they all miss the well from which all Republican kool-aid springs:
Bigotry. What the Republican Party really needs to change is the most difficult of all:
their hearts.
The GOP is THE party of bigots. Pure and simple. Everything Republicans stand for springs from this:
1. Tax cuts aren't about the free market, individual initiative, blah blah blah. It is about the Republican white man not wanting to give any money to unfortunate minorities.
2. Strong national defense isn't about protecting America from enemies from god knows where. It is purely about suppressing everyone else so that the Republican white man can remain top dog in the world.
3. "Pro-Life" most certainly isn't about everyone's life. It is about the life of the Republican white man to control everyone else's. Especially white women.
4. Fiscal conservatism has nothing to do with good accounting. It is purely about one thing and one thing only: making sure government never has the resources to help people who aren't the Republican white man. (Which is why agribusiness and defense are always exempt from fiscal conservatism.)
I could go on, but you get the point. Every element in the Republican platform is defined by which group of people they are against and don't like. You could put in "Border Security" and it's about Mexicans. You could put in "Gun Rights" and it's about Blacks. You could put in "Regulations" and it's about the poor. The heart and soul of the Republican party is built on a backlash of the expansion of rights and freedoms for everyone who is not a middle class or weatlhy white man. The Tea Party, the Neocons, the fiscal conservatives...all of it springs from conservative white male resentments.
The GOP elite can reach out to every group they are losing, but it wont make a difference. Know why? Nobody likes a bigot. I know some folks in my community (black) more conservative than Bush was. But they'll never vote Republican. Know why? The bigotry of the rank and file.
Better twittering and slicker apps wont fix this. Nor will putting out a Latino guy or a Black guy and saying "See!" The only thing that will change all this is a true change of heart from the average everyday Republican white male voter. Either through acceptance of defeat or embracing deliverance, the only way to change the Republican Party is to change the hearts of its dwindling, dying denizens: conservative old white men.