Small Steps in the Republican Implosion
While there’s a very long time left between now and November and while on the local and congressional level, Republicans may survive, or even take the Senate while retaining the House, the Republican Party and its leaders are doing everything in their power to destroy their chances of winning the presidency. Some of this is common knowledge–the war on middle-class white women having sex, for instance. A few possibly less well-known factors in the ongoing Republican implosion.
1. There’s almost no way the Republicans take the White House without winning Ohio. There are other mathematical possibilities for them, but given Ohio’s demographics and big swing to the Republicans in 2010, it feels like a must-win. Luckily for Democrats, John Kasich’s war on unions may have doomed Republicans in the Buckeye State. When Republicans are losing the Fraternal Order of Police, you know they are in trouble.
2. Of course, Romney has another problem that is clear from Republican primaries: working-class voters don’t like him. Santorum is killing Romney among non-college educated whites, an absolutely crucial demographic for Republicans this fall. I’m certainly not saying Santorum voters are going to choose Obama over Romney, but they could very well stay home. And again, in states like Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, Republicans need a very high turnout to have any shot of winning these states at all. Turns out that Romney’s plutocrat demeanor and clear contempt for working-class people may not work out so well. Who knew.
3. Mittens is also downright determined to get 0% of the growing Latino vote. Of all the tactics to choose, why get after Santorum for voting to appoint Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court? I guess there’s short-term gain to call Santorum weak on racial animosity and stopping the Kenyan’s agenda, but attacking one of the two most prominent Latinos in the history of American politics (along with Cesar Chavez) seems titanically stupid. This has slipped under a lot of radar screens, but the Latino media is all over it and that’s what counts here. I didn’t think it would be possible for Republicans to draw less Latino votes than McCain did, but Romney is giving it the old college try!