One message minority voters already sent Georgia’s GOP
The GOP’s post-election listening tour comes to Atlanta today, with a twist.
Reince Preibus, the recently re-elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, is scheduled to meet this afternoon with a couple of dozen black Republicans in an “engagement and listening session” aimed at widening the GOP’s appeal. It’s an imperative bit of outreach for Georgia Republicans — the like of which the state party, despite undeniable demographic trends away from its nearly all-white voting base, has done dangerously little.
No doubt, any number of ideas will be discussed during this session. But there’s one policy that is a color-blindingly obvious necessity for any serious attempt to win over minority voters: school choice.
Just a week ago, hundreds of students and their parents and teachers braved the cold for the annual school-choice rally on the Capitol steps. As is the case every year, the majority of these students were not white.
And almost all of them will be eligible to vote by 2018 or 2020.
If you don’t know, those are pretty much the years Georgia Democrats are eyeing as the time those demographic trends will make them competitive again in state politics.
So, let’s see … we have a group of people who traditionally don’t vote for Republicans, rallying in support of a policy that, in Georgia anyway, has been promoted chiefly by Republicans.
If Georgia’s Republicans can’t connect those dots, frankly they don’t deserve to stay in power much longer.
Not least since this annual picture of their potential future constituents comes on the heels of a resounding victory in November’s elections for the GOP-led charter schools amendment. That’s particularly true in areas of the state where Republican victories are rare.
In case you missed it back then, let me repeat some statistics about how the charter schools amendment fared:
Of all Georgia’s counties, the amendment did best in Clayton (71 percent), where Mitt Romney won just 15 percent of the presidential vote.
The amendment won 66 percent of the vote in Fulton and 64 percent in DeKalb. And here’s guessing parents who vote in DeKalb have even more interest in school choice today, given the shenanigans going on with the leadership — if that’s the right word for it — of that county’s school system.
Together, those three counties accounted for about one-third of all black registered voters in Georgia. Their approval of the amendment outpaced even the healthy support for it in counties where majorities sided with Romney (56 percent).
Yet, during the present legislative session, there appears to be little chance of seeing more significant school-choice legislation passed.
Why? Because some legislators are afraid it’s bad politics.
Bad politics? A policy that wins by double-digits in GOP-majority counties, and by even more than that in the largest majority-Democrat counties, is considered bad politics?
Yes, it goes over poorly with the entrenched educational bureaucracy. But so did the charter-schools amendment. And anyway, since when does the Republican Party side with the bureaucracy over taxpayers and parents?
If Republicans are to make inroads with minorities and other groups that typically don’t vote for them, they’re going to have to demonstrate, among other things, that they will put a priority on those voters’ interests. In some cases, that means siding with those voters’ interests over the financial interests of those who are trying to maintain the status quo.
That means putting the interests of students and parents — of any race — above those of the education bureaucracy. That means understanding that public education means ensuring all of our children are well-educated, and not necessarily that all of them must be educated by a publicly run monopoly. That means arguing as passionately for giving individuals choices in education as in health care.
If they can’t do those things, they might as well give up on the listening tours.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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193 comments Add your comment
Politico
February 7th, 2013
1:26 pm
“The libs are lying, misrepresenting, and cherry picking stats again to fit their narrative? No surprise there.”
Exactly. That has never been done by any right leaning blogger, talk show host, or Op Ed writer.
Thulsa Doom
February 7th, 2013
1:29 pm
Aquasilly,
Nope. I just used black at first because it was the simplest and easiest data to find. Add in other minorities and it still holds true that the southern states still in general have larger minority populations. Now California is only 57% white but is 13% Asian. And as we know Asians also skew the stats because they perform higher than whites on standardized testing if my memory serves me correctly.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 7th, 2013
1:30 pm
Iran has long claimed it managed to reverse-engineer the RQ-170 Sentinel, seized in December 2011 after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern border with Afghanistan, and that it’s capable of launching its own production line for the unmanned aircraft.
Absolutely no reason to send a drone into Iran in the first place. I guess the brilliant liberals don’t know that we have satellites that can read license plate numbers. Well, unless you were wanting to give the technology to Iran so that they could use it on us. It’s kinda like giving Egypt to the muslim brohood, giving Syria to al qaeda, removing all the missiles pointed at Russia, shrinking our Navy………
Politico
February 7th, 2013
1:37 pm
“Well, unless you were wanting to give the technology to Iran so that they could use it on us”
If you are going to post something stupid, may as well go big. As usual, she did.
Thulsa Doom
February 7th, 2013
1:38 pm
“Funny how the repubs hate welfare but loves their corporate welfare, loves that they do.”
You mean like Solyndra and other failed green projects under the Obama administration? Aint nothing quite like Dems throwing away taxpayer money on pipe dream projects.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 7th, 2013
1:46 pm
politico – Why didn’t they blow it up after it crashed? A Tomahawk can fly through windows, remember? How did it even survive the crash enough for them to get a good look at it?
Your vote for this freak obozo aids and abets the enemy.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 7th, 2013
1:47 pm
Neither the secretary of defense nor the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to the secretary of state during the 8-hour attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. At a Thursday hearing in the Senate, Republican Ted Cruz asked both Leon Panetta and Martin Dempsey, “In between 9:42 p.m., Benghazi time, when the first attacks started, and 5:15 am, when Mr. Doherty and Mr. Woods lost their lives, what converations did either of you have with Secretary Clinton?”
“We did not have any conversations with Secretary Clinton,” Panetta responded.
It must not have been 3 in the morning, eh?
Aquagirl
February 7th, 2013
1:49 pm
Nope. I just used black at first because it was the simplest and easiest data to find.
That’s a reasonable point. I withdraw my prior argument, your Honor.
Politico
February 7th, 2013
1:49 pm
And she doubles down
Thulsa Doom
February 7th, 2013
1:51 pm
Aquagirl,
Simple is easy. And of course Doomy do like the path of least resistance.
Grasshopper
February 7th, 2013
1:51 pm
“Only five states do not allow collective bargaining for educators, effectively banning teachers unions. Those states and their SAT/ACT rankings are as follows:
South Carolina – 50th
North Carolina – 49th
Georgia – 48th
Texas – 47th
Virginia – 44th
Meanwhile ground zero of the union battle, Wisconsin, is ranked 2nd in the country.”
You can do all sorts of fun things with statistics…http://www.census.gov/
South Carolina – White 68.4% Black 28.1%
North Carolina – White 72.1% Black 22.0%
Georgia – White 63.2% Black 31.0%
Texas – White 80.9% (Hispanic 38.1%- Defined as white) Black 12.2%
Virginia – White 71.3% Black 19.8%
Wisconsin — White 88.4% Black 6.5%
The sad truth is minorities are less educated in this country for a variety of reasons. That’s what needs to be fixed.
That Black Guy
February 7th, 2013
2:03 pm
independent thinker
February 7th, 2013
8:12 am
Does Rinse Prepuss really think he can find a couple dozen black Republicans in the entire state of Georgia?
____________________________________
Maybe…
http://www.gabrc.com/Photo_Gallery.php
Aquagirl
February 7th, 2013
2:04 pm
And of course Doomy do like the path of least resistance.
So do I, that’s why I can’t rag on you for that post—I digs me some shorthand, Aqua do.
That Black Guy
February 7th, 2013
2:06 pm
Georgia , The “New Mississippi”
February 7th, 2013
8:13 am
Kyle , you are totally lost…. Minorities ( Black Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Gays , Women, Poor folks, Highly educated folks ) do not vote Republican because you guys have never stood up FOR or WITH any minority on any issue that benefited THEM
______________________________________
Did you ever look at the voting rolls for the CRA?
Vote totalsTotals are in “Yea–Nay” format:
The original House version: 290–130 (69–31%).
Cloture in the Senate: 71–29 (71–29%).
The Senate version: 73–27 (73–27%).
The Senate version, as voted on by the House: 289–126 (70–30%).
[edit] By partyThe original House version:[16]
Democratic Party: 152–96 (61–39%)
Republican Party: 138–34 (80–20%)
Cloture in the Senate:[17]
Democratic Party: 44–23 (66–34%)
Republican Party: 27–6 (82–18%)
The Senate version:[16]
Democratic Party: 46–21 (69–31%)
Republican Party: 27–6 (82–18%)
The Senate version, voted on by the House:[16]
Democratic Party: 153–91 (63–37%)
Republican Party: 136–35 (80–20%)
Thulsa Doom
February 7th, 2013
2:07 pm
“The sad truth is minorities are less educated in this country for a variety of reasons. That’s what needs to be fixed.”
Well at least we can all agree that it needs to be fixed.
That Black Guy
February 7th, 2013
2:12 pm
JohnnyReb
February 7th, 2013
9:17 am
Litmus Test
Whether its how to manage education, transportation needs, Wall St, or whatever a test if there will be a meeting of the minds can be answered with this question.
Do you think Obama’s most recent give away program where smartphones will be given to poor people is OK? BTW, the phones will come from a company owned by a big donor to Obama.
If you think the smartphone give away is OK, you will never fit in with Republicans on any subject
__________________________________
Do you have a link to this? I Googled, but couldn’t find it.
That Black Guy
February 7th, 2013
2:14 pm
Road Scholar
February 7th, 2013
9:22 am
Just remember , taking the vowels out of Reince Preibus leaves you with RNC PR BS !
_____________________________
You do plan to credit JHM for that right?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 7th, 2013
2:24 pm
You can always tell on teh blogs which writers have recently watched a Lord of the Rings/Hobbit film.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 7th, 2013
2:26 pm
Aint nothing quite like Dems throwing away taxpayer money on pipe dream projects.
kinda like the Cons engineering a project to turn Iraq into a functioning Democracy? Sure Dems voted for the war it was a sales snow job by the Cons all the way…billions of dollars later makes Solyndra small potatoes
williebkind
February 7th, 2013
2:27 pm
Thulsa Doom
February 7th, 2013
2:07 pm
That is so true and to add misery to that number extract those that made it to college on an athletic scholarship. Some did great in college but most took the easy courses but they now have a degree.
That Black Guy
February 7th, 2013
2:28 pm
SBinF
February 7th, 2013
11:17 am
“Reince Preibus, the recently re-elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, is scheduled to meet this afternoon with a couple of dozen black Republicans in an “engagement and listening session” aimed at widening the GOP’s appeal.”
I call shenanigans. There’s no way there are two dozen black Republicans in the state.
_______________________________
http://gabrc.com/Home_Page_EEAX.html
http://cascade.patch.com/articles/conservative-summit-in-georgia#photo-8981539
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 7th, 2013
2:28 pm
Well, unless you were wanting to give the technology to Iran so that they could use it on us. It’s kinda like giving Egypt to the muslim brohood, giving Syria to al qaeda, removing all the missiles pointed at Russia, shrinking our Navy……
kinda like giving Iraq all those weapons back in the 80’s so they could fight Iran? That would NEVER be used on us, would it?
Politico
February 7th, 2013
2:28 pm
“I hired Sarah Palin because she was hot and got ratings,” Ailes, 71, said of the former vice presidential candidate
Guess Roger doesn’t think she is hot anymore.
td
February 7th, 2013
2:53 pm
The leftest code pink people are looking like fools in the CIA hearing and Diane Feinstein just stopped the hearing to clear the room and get the wacko’s out. Are not you progressives so proud?
independent thinker
February 7th, 2013
2:55 pm
That Black Guy- They look like extras to me. Anyway Mr. Prepuss sure kept the dark faces hidden at that circus/convention in Tampa he hosted. Now he wants to draw them out of the closet?
Hillbilly D
February 7th, 2013
3:00 pm
In some cases, that means siding with those voters’ interests over the financial interests of those who are trying to maintain the status quo.
My advice would be for them to get in touch with the blue collar/working class people. In my opinion, that’s what Reagan understood that the current group doesn’t. The so called “Reagan Democrats” are what put him over the top and he was smart enough to know that and to keep it together. As soon as he was out of office, that lesson was lost on much of the party leadership.
Former (D)
February 7th, 2013
3:05 pm
All these so-called minority groups band together to vote Democrat. Each seperate group are self absorbed, entitled zombies. Collectively you band together to ruin this country, while individually you couldn’t care less about the other minority group. You say you do, but you don’t. I have witnessed the hypocrisy and the backstabbing within the liberal ranks. The Dems need to think about the recession, the boom and then the bust. This is the future of your party.
The Democrats are all about the quantity of the vote, not the quality of the voter. That is why I switched to the Republican party. As socialism rises in this country, this once great nation is falling into oblivian. Coincidence? This is progress?
sailfish
February 7th, 2013
3:08 pm
“My advice would be for them to get in touch with the blue collar/working class people”
Unfortunately, republicans don’t really represent that group nor do their policies favor that group either; they mostly are aligned with the very rich.
Hillbilly D
February 7th, 2013
3:13 pm
sailfish
They haven’t figured that out and that’s the source of their current difficulties, in my opinion.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 7th, 2013
3:21 pm
Doom @ 1:12: Oh noes! Someone’s bogus claim just got eviscerated by the FACTS. Libs never do let the facts get in the way of their arguments.
FYI Doom, in case you didn’t know, there are more minorities than AA’s — i know, i know, it’s a shock; but its true.
Using just YOUR theory though, (that only AA’s are minorities), your claim is still crap. From your link – below are the southern states black population:
1 Mississippi 1,074,200
2 Louisiana 1,452,396
3 Georgia 2,950,435
6 Alabama 1,251,311
Total population — 6,7238,342 (six million, seven hundred twenty eight thousand, three hundred forty two)
The states that I mentioned:
13 New York 3,073,800
14 Illinois 1,866,414
15 New Jersey 1,204,826
27 California 2,299,072
total population – 8,444,112 ( EIGHT million four hundred forty-four thousand, three hundred forty two).
Looks like you’re wrong. AGAIN. Imagine that!
indigo
February 7th, 2013
3:24 pm
Aesop – 1:30
And, of course, you believe everything the Iran leadership says, right, brilliance?
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
February 7th, 2013
3:29 pm
Looks like you’re wrong. AGAIN. Imagine that!
That is a daily occurrence for her.
I would think she is used to it by now.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 7th, 2013
3:29 pm
TBG: Do you have a link to this? I Googled, but couldn’t find it.
Yep — here it is, it’s called Poltifact and that bullcrap that whats-its-face was posting got a pants on fire rating.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/31/adam-putnam/putnam-obama-campaign-gives-free-cell-phones-suppo/
Internet chatter claiming that Obama gave cell phones to welfare recipients contained a tiny grain of truth: The federal government does have a program to subsidize phone service for low-income people. That program, though, existed long before Obama became president.
ODS is alive and well.
Tony
February 7th, 2013
3:30 pm
@MILTONMAN
minority values, desires, and dreams are no different from yours. This article is about finding out how to bridge the gap and get more minorities to consider the republican party.
AS LONG AS THE LOUDEST VOICES OF THE PARTY SOUND LIKE YOURS, YOU WILL NEVER GET A GOOD PERCENTAGE OF THE MINORITY VOTE. THE DIRECTION OF THIS COUNTRY SUGGEST THAT YOU MUST GET RID OF YOUR ANGER AND HATE OR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WILL BE REGIONAL WITH LESS AND LESS INFLUENCE OVER FEDERAL DECISIONS!
THIS IS JUST SOMETHING FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU SAY SUCH CRUEL AND HATEFUL THINGS!
CHANGE AND IMPROVEMENT STARTS FROM WITHIN SIR!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 7th, 2013
3:37 pm
So we can call them “Bush phones” now?
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 7th, 2013
3:42 pm
Only five states do not allow collective bargaining for educators, effectively banning teachers unions. Those states and their SAT/ACT rankings are as follows
Whats so funny about the whole “bad, greedy, money grubbing teachers” diatribe is this:
When the repubs finally get their way and end ALL public schools and implement the new “pay your own damn elementary schools, etc”; who are they gonna find to TEACH these kids?
I mean, they’ve humiliated, distorted the records of, and harrassed teachers to the point of extinction; so who would even WANT to teach school, (for probably WAY less money than what they’re getting now), in a pay/go society?
Or, is that their diabolical plan all along? No schools+, no teachers+, dumb kids= dumb populace!
Dumb populace(s) mean more republicans in office wreaking the environment and using wide stances to proclaim their victories!!
Its all becoming clearer…………………
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 7th, 2013
3:48 pm
So we can call them “Bush phones” now?
It won’t work — republicans will SWEAR its just made it up, and are just blaming Bush.
md
February 7th, 2013
3:50 pm
“Of all Georgia’s counties, the amendment did best in Clayton (71 percent), where Mitt Romney won just 15 percent of the presidential vote.”
And this is the county that kept electing the most dysfunctional school board in the country…….
md
February 7th, 2013
3:52 pm
“It must not have been 3 in the morning, eh?”
No, it was 3 in the morning, she just didn’t answer the phone…..makes that commercial that much more comical…….or sad.
md
February 7th, 2013
4:02 pm
““Only five states do not allow collective bargaining for educators, effectively banning teachers unions. Those states and their SAT/ACT rankings are as follows:
South Carolina – 50th
North Carolina – 49th
Georgia – 48th
Texas – 47th
Virginia – 44th
Meanwhile ground zero of the union battle, Wisconsin, is ranked 2nd in the country.”
You can do all sorts of fun things with statistics…http://www.census.gov/”
Yes you can…..now dig a little deeper and get back to us on the percentages of the school kids in each state that actually take the test. Comparing SAT scores by themselves means nothing without also factoring in the participation rates.
It’s not hard for that battle ground of Wisconsin to have higher SAT scores when only 5% of their kids are taking the test……..
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/policyblog/detail/sat-scores-by-state-2011
md
February 7th, 2013
4:05 pm
“You can do all sorts of fun things with statistics…”
And it bears repeating that you did…..it’s called distortion of the facts…..
Douglas
February 7th, 2013
4:17 pm
Blacks will NEVER vote Republican. As long as I can remember they have cast 90% or more of their vote to Democrats. If the Democrat candidate is black, then it’s in the 94 to 96% range.
Nothing can change that. The economy was terrible and had been for years on election day after 4 years of a Democrat as president; yet, the blacks voted in the 94% range for Obama.
Republicans waste time and money trying to persuade ones who cannot be persuaded. The Democrat party has the black vote in its pocket and always will.
CC
February 7th, 2013
4:24 pm
“Blacks will NEVER vote Republican.”
Yep, the ‘Massa’ won’t let them stray from the plantation . . .
Dusty
February 7th, 2013
4:39 pm
The day is cold and dark and dreary.
It rains, and the wind is never weary.
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at each gust, the dead leaves fall.
H.W. Longfellow
The day is cold and dark and dreary.
It rains, and the wind is never weary..
The bank still clings to the mortgaged wall.
And the national debt weighs upon us all
Dusty
Jefferson
February 7th, 2013
4:50 pm
Reasonable people can come to reasonable conclusions under reasonable conditions, unless you are a republican.
Dusty
February 7th, 2013
4:59 pm
Oh that’s heavy, JEFFERSON, heavy! Did you think of that all by yourself?
It’s seasonal to be reasonable so let’s be considerate while we commiserate..
Hillbilly D
February 7th, 2013
5:07 pm
The day is cold and dark and dreary.
It rains, and the wind is never weary..
But I’m here warm and dry
Sitting on my reary
That Black Guy
February 7th, 2013
5:20 pm
independent thinker
February 7th, 2013
2:55 pm
That Black Guy- They look like extras to me. Anyway Mr. Prepuss sure kept the dark faces hidden at that circus/convention in Tampa he hosted. Now he wants to draw them out of the closet?
___________________________________
I saw them in Tampa, why didn’t you?
Some were even on stage speaking.
That Black Guy
February 7th, 2013
5:21 pm
DDR, I figured that’s what he was talking about. Just wanted to see if he would actually source his claim.
Dusty
February 7th, 2013
5:22 pm
OH dear! Oh dear! The end is near!
And that is what I do so fear.
The blog doth:say, “Now– Show All”
But nothing shows up here a’tall!
Kyle doth say : After while, crocodile!
Rushin’ ’round just aint his style.
So minorities, please go and vote
We need your help. Let debt be smote!
(Smote? I quote: Knock it down!)
Hark! The dinner bell doth sound!!