The Republican Party announced the Growth and Opportunity Project after the 2012 election. We saw Mitt Romney lose the election, which helped the analysis that lead to the compilation of this project. The report, in summary, talks about how the GOP is failing to reach immigrant voters, young voters, and is falling into the mold of stereotypes. I for one think they are right.
The Republican Party is losing votes from immigrants due to the poor rhetoric displayed by candidates like Donald Trump. It can make an assumption about the overall message of the party, turning off Latin American voters, etc. Historically, Latin American voters have aligned more with the social issues of the GOP with their strong connections to the Roman Catholic faith. But yet, we see them often voting with the Democratic party. African American voters also seem to predominately vote for Democratic candidates. Chris Matthews accused the party of keeping racism alive, specifically ushering a new era of Jim crow laws.
But something that really caught my eye was in The Gamble by John Sides and Lynn Vavreck. They talk about how Mitt Romney's lack of empathy contributed to his loss to President Obama. They are not the only ones talking about this empathy is more important than we think. This article talks about how Romney's emotions were not exposed in his campaign. Meanwhile, we saw President Obama displaying an empathetic attitude towards immigrants, impoverished, and essentially any group in the minority that he could. Did this help him win the election?
Polls showed Romney behind on Obama on the empathy scale. If we think about, we want a leader of our nation who cares about struggles, because if they care about them, they are the one who can do something about it.
So, I beg the question: Is the GOP's lack of empathy taking a toll on their votes?
In the previous articles mentioned, some voters describe the attitudes of Romney and immigration as "That is your problem. Not mine"
Romney also faced the issue of the "47%" that were dependent on the government that he "did not care about." However, he is not the first candidate to display this lack of empathy. Obama had the Dream Act and Obamacare that could be seen as more empathetic for those who were children of immigrants and those who couldn't afford health care.
With the Growth and Opportunity Project, Republicans can hopefully become more in touch with the needs of the voters and better display empathy. The GOP has the opportunity to extend their reach to win over voters who would otherwise be aligned with them, if they displayed more of an empathetic attitude. The next step for the party is to hoist up the candidates who come off with an attitude of wanting to take a walk in your shoes.
