11/7/12 11:07 AM – Political & Social Lessons from the Election

Republicans really have the demographics against them and if they have any chance at doing better in the Senate and White House in future years, they are swimming upstream and really need some radical changes. Think about it.

Women are registered more often as Democrats
The Latino vote is solidly in the Democrat caamp and the # of Latinos is rising, especially in FL, NC, AZ, NV and CO – all swing states
Blacks overwhelmingly vote for blue candidates, not just Pres. Obama
Union members are typically solidly Democrat
LGBT community and Jews (no real relation) are also solidly Democratic
The whole west coast and virtually the whole NE, two very populous areas with lots of electoral votes, are solidly blue
The media that select, edit and write TV and radio newscasts is by many surveys 90% Democrat. It’s kind of like having all the news about your family collected, edited and told by an ex-wife that really dislikes you.
Young voters – ages 18-29 voted 59% to 35% in favor of Pres. Obama

Who do the Republicans have? – White men and evangelicals. Whites are becoming a smaller share of the country and so are evangelicals.

Add to those factors the fact that the country is becoming more socially liberal. To wit:

3 states (MD, ME and WA) approved gay marriage yesterday and a 4th (MN) voted down a ban on same-sex marriage. That makes 9 states approving gay marriage + 2 more that recognize those performed in other states
WI elected the first openly gay senator
MA, WA and CO approved marijuana use. Significantly, in CO & WA it was Ok’d for recreational use.
Conservative, poorly worded comments regardimg abortion cost 2 Republican senators theier elections

Mainly, Republicans need to find a way to redefine their image from that of bigoted, rich, ecologically and compassion-challenged white men. They must also find a way to better reach out to women and Latino voters. There is an awful lot of work for Republicans to do in order to stay competitive.