In 2010, TEA Party Republicans elected two blacks from the South in white districts, Representatives Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Allen West, R-Fla., as well as an Indian American as South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Another Indian America (as in "India") Gov. Bobby Jindal, has great TEA Party support in his state of Louisiana. Add to the list of growing minority leadership the names of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and you have the beginnings of a changing tide of minority influence within the GOP . . . . . . all of it driven by TEA Party conservatives !!!
Of the 75 Black, Hispanic and Asian Congressional Democrats and governors, only 6 come out of majority-white constituencies. In other words, all but 6 were elected by minority ethnicities and have little appeal outside their particular and individual ethnic demographic. By contrast, the GOP has 13 minorities members representing broad based constituencies that include large white populations.
Understand that Republican minority representation is more the result of crossover voting than can be seen in the Democrat circumstance. As a result, minority Democrats tend to be much more liberal than GOP minority members because they do not have to appeal to a larger demgraphic. While only10% of minority Democrats come from regions with large white populations, nearly all of the minority GOP congress comes from districts that require heavy crossover voting. As a result, minority GOP members have more influence within the Grand Old Party than do their Democrat counterparts.
Understand that if the GOP cannot change the face of the party, it will not continue into the future, that is a matter of mathematics. The percentage of whites is decreasing. But, the GOP is making an effort to include more and more minority members and that trend should be celebrated and supported.
What should never be forgotten, however, is this: it is the TEA party that is driving virtually all of this change.