Pushmi-Pullyu

One question that has come up in both US and Texas government classes is whether a politician can properly represent a constituency that is different than they are. Watching the new “Tea Party” inspired Republican party, I almost have to rephrase the question to; How can a politician represent a constituency that they hate.

Well, the word “Hate” may be a little extreme, but not by much in many cases. Watching many of the political debates and speeches lately, I have to wonder who Republicans do like. They seem to have slowly evolved from simply a party advocating small government to the party of intolerance. Beginning in the 80’s and 90s when they embraced the evangelical Christian and moral majority for support, they have slowly inched along to where now almost anyone “not exactly like them” is treated like the scourge of the earth.

I also have to wonder how long this political party will be able to retain influence if they continue to assault the very people who have to vote them into office. How long will it be before they are hated back so strongly that they inspire the non-politically inclined people to register to defend themselves.

Lets go down the list and look at a few…

Of course, they hate Democrats and Liberals. I don’t think this one need much evidence, They regard these two words to be at a comparable level to pedophiles, murderers and communists. You can see the look on their face when they say them, like they accidently bought sour candy at the movie theatre. In Texas the Republican/Democrat Split is around 60/40, but I will say 70/30 just to be safe. That is the first 30% they hate.

But let’s see who else they are alienating… I am doing this looking primarily at Texas

The poor: With the divide between the have and have-nots continuing to grow and unemployment remaining a problem, this is one of the fasted growing groups in America, The middle class is becoming lower class and the lower middle class in slipping into poverty. As the one Republican said when he was asked about the unemployed (as he was getting into an elevator during the unemployment compensation extensions debate), “F*ck Them”. People remember things like this. O.K… Unemployment hovering around 10%, Another several percentage points permanently out of the workforce or long term unemployed. Since unemployment is a little better in Texas, I will combine these groups and call them both 10% and add them to the 15% living in poverty Poverty rates for the United States and for Texas. 25% for the poor folks.

Hispanics: The recent debate on sanctuary cities in Texas left a pretty bad taste in the mouth of the Hispanic population. I reviewed a good article on this for my last Blog entry. "Will ‘Sanctuary Cities‘ Galvanize Texas Latinos?" Texas is now 38% Hispanic and growing.

Gays: Even if they do not “Hate” gays, the Republican Party for sure does not support their agenda. With bills like The Defense of Marriage Act” and opposing the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, It is clear that this is one group they want to stay in the closet. Estimates vary on how high the occurrence rate of Homosexuality is since a large portion of their population is an “underground” social group, They average around 10-15% though. Per Wiki "Homosexuality"

Women: Well, not all women, but definitely the ones that won’t let middle aged white men make their reproductive decisions. The recent sonogram law stands a good chance of politicizing many women who previously were on the sidelines. The U.S. Population is currently split 50-50 on this issue and women are approximately 50% of the population so this makes 25%.

Potheads: Well, any debate about “entitlements” always results in cries of “piss test” er… excuse me, “Urinalysis”. Florida just passed a law requiring a drug test before receiving state welfare benefit. You can spend it on gambling, hookers or alcohol… but by god, you better not buy any pot! Even a bust for a small amount can cause you to lose many Federal benefits as well as student financial aid. Another percentage that is hard to lock down due to the underground nature of the culture, this one averages about 20% to 40%. With 750,000 Americans charged every year just for posession, it is not a small percentage; those are just the ones getting caught. We will split the difference and say 30%

Islam: One of the actual Republican Presidential debate questions was if the candidate would have an Islamic cabinet member with many responding strongly to the negative. John Stewart had a field day with this one. Although, they are an easy target and estimated at only about 0.5% of the US population. It does make you wonder if these folks have read about freedom of religion. They wave the constitution but have they read it? 0.5% for the Muslims and probably a few more percentage points for those alarmed by the intolerance. Imagine the uproar if you replaced Muslim with Jew. Sound like anything familiar from 20th century history? 2.5%

Now, Lets have a look at the numbers

Democrats: 30%
Poor: 25%
Gay: 15%
Hispanic: 38%
Women: 25%
Potheads: 30%
Muslim and sympathisers: 2.5
Total: 165.5%

So, there you have it by the numbers, for every 100 people they Represent, Republicans Hate 165.5 of them.

Now,, there is some cross over between the groups, and this commentary is a bit satirical for those of you who have not picked up on the fact yet. But if you look at all the groups who the Republicans support some piece of legislation to repress, it makes you wonder how long they will remain a viable party. They have even started feeding on their own, going after established incumbent candidates who are not "conservative enough". You push people far enough and they will eventually push back.

With the diversity of America increasing and society coming to accept more and more personal liberty for diverse groups, how much longer will it be before the influence of these groups overpower the aging support base for Radical Conservatism? By rejecting them, the Republican Party is pushing them to support the opposition party regardless of their political ideology and losing a say as to how these previously disenfranchised groups are incorporated into the mainstream.