The shrinking Republican Party
By Max J. Castro
majcastro@gmail.com
A few years ago Grover Norquist, one of the gurus of the right-wing intelligentsia in Washington, once remarked he hoped to be able to shrink the size of government until it was small enough to drown it in a bathtub. Recent events certainly have not fulfilled Norquist’s wish. The stimulus package, the bank and auto company bailouts, Obama’s budget, the health care reform bill, and the hugely successful “Cash for Clunkers” program point to the largest role for government since the Great Depression.
How things have changed! Today a more realistic scenario would be to shrink the Republican Party until it becomes a club of older, less-educated, white Southern males.
Indeed, the GOP seems so much in the thrall of an ideology that even John McCain, one of the more Latino-friendly Republicans, voted against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. To add insult to injury, Sotomayor is the first Supreme Court nominee that McCain has ever voted against.
Sotomayor was confirmed in spite of the fact that only nine of 40 republican senators voted in her favor. The fact that McCain voted against her only shows to the depths that republicans have fallen. (Fifty-nine Democrats voted in favor of Sotomayor. Only the ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy was not able to vote for her.
What excuse do they have for voting against such a supremely qualified and moderate jurist? None. Sotomayor jumped through every hoop and passed every test, but she was not good enough for the Republicans. Who among us can pass their test?
The time is now to rub their noses in it and make them pay the price. The Democratic Party is well positioned to drive a permanent wedge between the Republican Party and the Latino community, starting by making known the party line vote on Sonia Sotomayor. A media buy on Univisión and Telemundo would be an appropriate way of making known who are our friends and who are not our friends. Radio and the ethnic print media should also be used to communicate the message
The comedian Bill Maher quipped that, after all the immigrant bashing and the Sotomayor hearing, the Republicans should drop all pretense and tell everyone in the entire Hispanic community to go fuck themselves.
In the 2008 election, Republicans began to pay the price for repeatedly spitting in our face. Seeing what happened with Sotomayor, it is obvious they have learned nothing from that experience. It’s time for a few more courses of punishment in 2010, 2012 and beyond.
