Republicans represent bad tidings
as the times get better. They rail against a retiring President. They oppose
any positive federal government measures to transform the economy and, at the same
time, make it easier for everyone to rise with it. They fear for the rich and
for defense spending. And they’re positions work with Republicans—and are
broadly understood by most everyone else.
Professional pride, if not
personal ambition, is forcing Republican leaders to re-assess their brand. They
liked running the federal government in the past and would like a shot at
winning a winnable election in 2016.
Ryan Lizza's “The House of Pain” in the New Yorker this week meticulously reports on how Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor and his caucus are circling around the problem. These two quotes are interesting in that they are becoming the memes of pragmatic conservatism.
“At
the January retreat, a halfway point in the midst of these budget battles,
Cantor sounded chastened, or, at least, like a man wanting to appear chastened. 'We’ve got to understand that people don’t think Republicans have their back,'
he said. 'Whether it’s the middle class, whether it’s the Latino or the Asian
vote.' It was not 'necessarily our policies' but, rather, how 'we’ve been
portrayed.' He added, 'It goes to that axiom about how people don’t really care
how much you know until they know you care. So we’ve got to take that to heart
and, I think, look to be able to communicate why we’re doing what we’re doing.'
“'Well,
we have features that we’re for, whether it’s balanced budgets, whether it’s
fiscal prudence or reforming entitlements,' he said. 'Those are features—those
aren’t ends in themselves. But they’re going to produce a stronger America.
They’re going to save the safety-net programs for those who need them.'”
These
statements don’t offend the base, but—alone—won’t change their image with the
broader electorate.
When
Republicans were different, they did well with the Hispanic bourgeoisie and
very well with Asian American voters. Lloyd Green outlines in the Daily
Beast “Why Asian-Americans have turned against the Republican Party.” He
points out that their very material and educational success has made Asian
Americans progressively less inclined to identify with white Republican
resentment and fear.
Let’s
put one more on the table: racism.
All
things being equal, there isn’t any reason to expect Hispanic and Asian
American voters to be more tolerant toward blacks than is the American white
majority. Nevertheless, they are both minorities—and minorities, if not majorities,
today do have each other’s back.
The
vehemence of the Republican campaign against the person of Barack Obama,
likely, not only alarmed blacks but also turned off Hispanics and Asian
Americans.
From
this perspective, Cantor hasn’t moved the puck very far. He has offered his
hand two minorities—but did not mention America’s black population. He repeats
their promise to save the safety net for “those who most need it.” He uses five
words rather than a simple two: “the poor.” And his caucus goes on record favoring
deeper spending cuts in Medicaid in order to lighten cuts in the Pentagon.
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