President Obama's second-term victory following the Nov. 6 presidential election has led some members of the Emory community, in addition to national journalists and political analysts, to criticize the Republican Party's conservative platform.
Concerns include what critics see as the outdated conservatism of Republican social policies, the demographic homogeneity of the Republican electorate and the slim chances Republicans have of winning future elections given how many perceive the Republican party to consist primarily of rich, white, conservative men.
According to a Nov. 11 New York Times article, commentary across the United States includes criticism of the Republican Party and Republican candidate Mitt Romney's social policies on topics such as immigration, gay marriage and abortion. Emory political science professors and experts have also addressed these notions that the Republican Party appeals to only rich, white, conservative men with predictions that Republican candidates have a slim chance of winning future elections if they fail to appeal to more diverse voters.
"If we look at how the vote is split, it suggests that the Republican party can rely on only the white vote to get elected," Political Science Professor Andra Gillespie said. "In the last few election cycles, white voters make up less and less of the vote, and the fact that minorities are overwhelmingly democratic is going to hurt Republicans."
In interviews with the Wheel, students and professors said many of Romney's social policies represent very conservative views, and thus do not appeal to Independent voters during the election, according to the Times article. Independents were deterred from voting for him by his wavering on social positions or his extremely conservative stands on issues such as immigration, abortion and other issues.
Political Science professor Alan Abramowitz agreed, noting that the Republican Party has become too conservative in that their "hostility" towards programs like student loans and health care cost them the election, as those are programs many lower-class people need.
College sophomore and College Republicans member Luke Bucshon agreed, claiming that the Republican social platform was outdated. "The fiscal message of the Republican party shouldn't be brought down by a social platform too far off from what American people are and what is right," College sophomore Luke Bucshon said.
Given that Republicans won 59 percent of the white vote during the presidential election, many political commentators have said the Republican electorate consists only of rich, white men.
Political Science professor Andra Gillespie said the Republican Party may have trouble winning elections in the future if they do not present a competitive platform that appeals to minority voters.
Gillespie said minority voters such as African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians tend to vote democratically. Combined with their rapid growth as groups within the U.S. population, this trend leads to greater strength for the Democratic Party, she said.
"The fact that these groups – the fastest growing, biggest ethnic minority groups – are democratic doesn't bode well with the fate of the Republican party," she said. "The party is going to have to figure out how to craft policy agenda to make them competitive with the sectors of the electorate with the fastest growing population."
Presidential election exit polls indicated that Obama won 93 percent of the black vote, 73 percent of the Hispanic vote and 71 percent of the Asian vote. Romney, however, won 59 percent of the white vote.
College senior and College Republicans Chairman Nick Going acknowledged that the results of the election may indicate that the vote was very divided racially. However, he disagreed that the Republican Party consists of one demographic.
"It's easy to make racial conclusions, but people need to be cautious about making a racial judgment that is just not the truth," he said.
Gillespie cited the Republican reluctance to "play identity politics" – or identifying and pandering to specific groups while campaigning – as their primary flaw in failing to acquire the minority vote. Democrats use identity politics to their advantage, which may have played a role in both their 2008 and 2012 wins, she said.
While some voters may fiscally identify with the Republican ideals of individualism and personal freedom, Gillespie said, they do not necessarily always vote Republican. These Independent voters see the Republican Party as discriminatory against minorities by failing to address structural inequalities.
"The party needs to realize minorities identify as groups because they were discriminated against in groups," she said. "In order to be competitive, the Republican Party needs to rethink [its] approach to addressing structural inequality so that they are relevant and can then make claims about personal freedom and individualism."
Although the presidency went to the Democratic candidate, both Going and Bucshon expressed excitement over the controversy surrounding bipartisanship in Congress and entitlement spending.
"We still have a Republican-controlled House, and politicians like Jeb Bush, who want to compromise and do things," Bucshon said. "I'm hopeful that Obama, [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid and [Speaker of the House John] Boehner can come together and get something done."
– By Anusha Ravi
