Republicans seem to be enjoying this week of small shiny “scandals.” They’d better celebrate while they can, because there are three realities that, if unaddressed, could effectively kill the Republican Party’s national success:
1. The Republicans’ Hispanic Problem
Since the November 2012 election ended and it was clear that President Obama and the Democrats won handily, Republicans have been saying that “Hispanic outreach” is the key to their future success. Thus far, that plan isn’t working too well. First, the Republicans trotted out Senator Marco Rubio as their great savior. However, Rubio crashed and burned in a matter of minutes, with his awkward dry mouth and “Big Gulp” moment that will live on forever as an example of a politician who literally was not ready for prime time.
Then, just two days ago, the Republicans’ Hispanic outreach effort suffered another embarrassing blow as their Director of Hispanic Outreach in all-important Florida, Pablo Pantoja, announced that he was switching his affiliation to the Democratic Party precisely because of the Republicans’ “culture of intolerance” that has turned off so many Hispanic voters.
2. The Backlash Against Rush Limbaugh’s Brand of Hate
Cumulus Media CEO Lew Dickey recently stated that the citizen boycott of advertisers on Rush Limbaugh‘s radio show carried on the Cumulus network was responsible for up to $5.5 million in losses to his company. Then, earlier this month, the Limbaugh show’s parent company, Clear Channel, reported a sharply higher loss of $203 million. The Limbaugh ad boycott began in earnest after Limbaugh fired a blast in the Republican “War on Women” when he called Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” for her support of contraception coverage in the Affordable Care Act. Just as Hispanics and Latinos comprise a critical and growing population of American voters, so do women. That’s a problem when Rush Limbaugh is seen by many as the leading edge of, and one of the most influential people in, the Republican Party.
3. The Increasing Popularity of Marriage Equality
Just yesterday, Minnesota became the 12th state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage. The last five such states have adopted marriage equality in just the past seven months, continuing a pace of social change which arguably rivals that of any period in U.S. history. It is abundantly clear from these state actions and from the polls that the majority of Americans, and especially the vast majority of young Americans, favor marriage equality. Yet many Republicans can’t get their heads around gay marriage. At best, same-sex marriage is causing a painful rift in the Republican Party.
So at the same time the three major cable “news” networks are focusing on three small shiny objects, the Republican Party is facing three massive demographic disadvantages and is alienating three or more major and growing voting blocs. No wonder the Republicans are hawking “scandals.”
