Interestingly, several politicians being considered for the GOP's 2016 campaign are not old white men; multiple are of minority descent and are relatively new to the scene (in politician years). This new type of Republican candidate hopes to attract young and diverse voters that the GOP has lost in recent years. With Obama midway into his second term as essentially the face of the Democratic Party, the Democrats want to select a different type of candidate as well to change things up. If Clinton were not to run, the Democrats would look to figures like Joe Biden and Martin O'Malley, neither of whom is particularly young or of color. Figures like Clinton and Biden are appealing because of their many years of experience with Presidential politics, which are reassuring to currently dissatisfied Democratic voters. The party role reversal concerning the 2016 elections will paint a very different picture from that to which voters have grown familiar in recent years.
What will voters make of this role reversal? Do you think that it will have a significant impact on young voters and minority voters? Or is the selection of a particular candidate not likely to change an image that has become engrained in voters' minds?
Article 1: CNN
Article 2: US News
Article 3: CNN
Photo: The Huffington Post
4 comments:
Although I have nothing substantial against Joe Biden as a politician, I do not think that he will progress far in the presidential campaign due to the fact that he is seventy one years old. Biden's older age is off putting in the same way McCain's age (at the time of the 2008 election, he was seventy one) was distracting to the public in 2008. I think that voters will fear he is out of touch with the present and "the common man" and so be dissuaded from Biden.
As for the Republican candidates, I think the GOP is also aware of voters' fear of electing candidates who appear to not well represent their constituencies, hence the gravitation towards younger, more diverse politicians.
In a world where candidates must be physically attractive, tall, and not too aged, but not have to be able to form a coherent sentence, or even be independent thinkers, we can question the importance of gender or ethnicity of any one potential candidate. While we ordinary Americans still remember what we were taught in our elementary school days about our democracy and the intent of our Founding Fathers, after watching the obstructionist politics and refusals to compromise during the last five years, who can really believe that a candidate from an underrepresented group can better our society? That is the point of politics, right?
The Republicans can fight no longer because, after the government shutdown and their obvious refusal to compromise--evidenced by the Congressional gridlock--their image is not positive in the eyes of the American public. Politics is no longer about the issues and the debates revolving around them, but about the people elected to resolve these issues and further the general good. It is about an perceived images, and how any one group or individual can maintain their image to gain reelection. Every issue get flattened to sound bites, so any one candidate tends to becomes irrelevant, and the voter ends up choosing the lesser of two perceived evils.
I highly recommend Amazon's series 'Alpha House.' Not only is it well written and acted and very hilarious, it is a pulling back of the curtain of politics. There is no mighty Wizard of Oz.
It is sad that it is newsworthy when minorities run for presidential office, especially since the Republicans were originally the more pro-civil rights party (Thaddeus Stevens was a Republican). I think that it will have an impact if the Republicans have some more minority candidates. But Clinton is female, which while not a minority is still underrepresented in politics. Do you think that it is more important for the Republicans to not be the party of "old people" "white people" or "men?" Which label is most harmful?
Like anything, I think it will take a long time and/or a highly influential event to change voters' mindsets. Personally, I don't think that this will have a huge effect on any kind of party shift because even though these parties may be choosing different people to represent them, these parties will still choose a candidate that reflects the beliefs of the overall party. If there is some kind of shift, I do not think we will see it until later when he/she are in leadership roles and are able to make substantial change.
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