There’s been lots of discussion during the past week about the future of conservatism. David Brooks and First Read consider the topic today. In short, the GOP can’t continue to appeal primarily to less educated, Southern, rural, and racist voters in an age of increasing education levels, diversity, tolerance, and migration back into cities and close-in suburbs. What’s the solution?
In our round table discussion on identity politics and the election, Brentin Mock, Adam Serwer, and I agree that one possibility is conservatives cutting loose the nativist right and embracing Latinos as “white.” Many Latino immigrants already consider themselves white, in part because of different racial attitudes in their home countries. And an appeal to these voters’ religiosity and social conservatism could, as Karl Rove and George W. Bush intended, eventually woo them back into a GOP that stops demagoguing on immigration, but continues to evince enough discomfort with African Americans and secular culture to hold onto the white Southern base. Here’s how Adam puts it:
Serwer: I think the studies showing changing demographics obscure the fact that most Latinos identify as white. So one of two things will happen: The GOP will continue to marginalize itself with hostility to Latinos, or it will redefine whiteness to include many of them. I’m betting on the latter.
—Dana Goldstein
