The Hill: GOP as a “Tent of White Christian Men”

Aaron Keyak — June 1, 2009 – 3:51 pm | Polls | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

Writing for The Hill, Markos Moulitsas, wrote a piece, “Tent of White Christian Men.” He reports, “89 percent of their [GOP] caucus is white, male and Christian.”

The beginning of the article:

It was a curious story, straight out of the man-bites-dog files:

“California Representative Kevin McCarthy, the chief recruiter for House Republicans, said he wants his party to select candidates based less on ideology and more on their chances of winning,” reported Bloomberg News. “The goal, [McCarthy] said, is to seek out prospects who are ethnically diverse, female, less partisan and even supportive of abortion rights.”

And then, the punch line: “So far, these efforts are more concept than reality.”

If there’s one thing the GOP doesn’t do (other than win elections outside of the Southeast), it’s diversity. In both chambers of Congress, out of 218 total seats, Republicans are down to a single Jewish member, four Cuban-Americans (and zero non-Cuban Latinos), no African-Americans, and just 21 women. All told, 89 percent of their caucus is white, male and Christian. Meanwhile, former Vice President Dick Cheney slammed the door in the face of one of the few respected African-Americans left in the GOP, Colin Powell: “My take on it was Colin had already left the party — I didn’t know he was still a Republican.”

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