HOW TO SURVIVE DEMONIZATION ON THE LEFT’S PERCEPTION OF THE RIGHT

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First Things:

HOW TO SURVIVE DEMONIZATION

ON THE LEFT’S PERCEPTION OF THE RIGHT

 

by Pete Spiliakos8 . 7 . 14

 

Whether the issue is abortion or spending, a fraction of African-American, Hispanic, and young voters are on the right when it comes to policy, but voted for President Obama. These voters are immersed in a milieu where they never hear the worst of the left, or the best of the right. But there’s hope. A lifetime of attitudes can change, but not all at once. Though no national candidate will be able to change such attitudes in the few months of a presidential campaign, such change has happened before on a more local level.

 

In his 1998 reelection, George W. Bush won 27 percent of the African-American vote in a year where congressional Republicans posted disappointing election results. Governor Bush’s ability to win over African-American and Hispanic voters was likely a reason that the Republican establishment rallied behind him as the party’s candidate 2000 presidential candidate.

 

Mitch Daniels is another example. Unlike Bush, he did not much emote about being a “compassionate conservative.”