How white — and male — is the RNC?

Folks over at The New York Times, Salon, and The Atlantic observe the growing role of race in the Republican campaign.

Elspeth Reeve, writing for The Atlantic, points out that Romney needs 61 per cent of the white vote to win, suggesting his criticism of Obama for allowing welfare work requirement waivers is an attempt to rally that white vote.

Similarly, The New York Times writes:

"The Republican ticket is flooding the airwaves with commercials that develop two themes designed to turn the presidential contest into a racially freighted resource competition pitting middle class white voters against the minority poor."

Thomas F. Schaller, professor of political science at the University of Maryland writing for Slate, says that though Republicans have increased their roster of women, their policies suggest they are focussing on male voters, presenting a bit of an ideological problem:

"But the sudden uptick in minority and female Republicans is especially noteworthy because it creates a rather curious paradox: The rising diversity among Republican elites comes at the same time the party seems to be retrenching —willingly and strategically, it sometimes seems—toward a more base-oriented, white-male dominated coalition of voters."

(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Comments

[Canadachickee]

Wow... He's hot, sorry... but he is. You can't deny it. A lot younger than Obama too. You know where my vote would be. Smart, young and not a communist. Definitely very appealing to the women.