Republicans: Bullet Meet Foot

It's been reported widely in the blogosphere and traditional media that the Republicans candidates are ignoring certain groups: Latinos, African Americans, young people. The DNC even went so far as to produce this video on the topic, which unfortunately doesn't seem to have gotten much attention:

I just wanted to point out that these are not mutually exclusive groups, and while it is bizarre that Republicans may be ignoring the future of what they themselves see as the core demographic for electoral success (white males) by skipping the Young and College Republican Conventions, they're also shunning a substantial portion of all young voters by skipping events like the Univision debate and NAACP forum.

According to a report by the New Politics Institute, 40% of Millennials come from a "minority" racial or ethnic group. Not that I'm complaining, but as Chris Bowers discussed on Open Left, that is a long-term strategy for defeat, particularly among Hispanics, who will comprise 25% of the total electorate by 2050 and already comprise 18% of all Millennials. In a number of states in the southwest, Hispanics have already surpassed 30% of the population, and in the swing state of New Mexico they are already 30% of the electorate. Young voters are the gateway to those families, as children of immigrants are frequently more acclimatized and function as political influencers for the rest of their families. (From NDN: Hispanics Rising)

My point is that ignoring African American and Latinos is also ignoring young voters. We've rehashed this many many times here, but you really can't say it enough: partisanship is a habit (pdf), and by ignoring these constituencies, Republicans are shoring up the Democratic base among three growing and overlapping groups that are going to overtake the electorate in the coming decades.