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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNPR's Cokie Roberts: Romney's trip to Poland was racially motivated.
Cokie Roberts says Romneys Poland trip meant to excite ethnic white voters
ROBERTS: Well, I think that part of it was a desire to portray President Obama as something of a wimp and say he has abandoned Eastern Europe. But look, you remember well the Reagan Democrats, those ethnic white voters who had been Democrats for many years, turned out for Ronald Reagan and have been fairly predictable Republicans since then. Now, it's a smaller percentage of the population, of the voting population than it used to be, but white voters are still much more Republican than any other group in the electorate.
They went for McCain in 2008 by 55 percent, and I think that, you know, getting those ethnic voters excited is really what Romney has in mind here. It's more for the folks at home, the descendants of the people that he will be speaking to in Poland.
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/30/157580706/week-in-politics-romney-headed-to-poland
slampoet
(5,032 posts)the "ethinic white" voters are LESS republican than the average White voter.
This is because They are usually not Protestant and are instead Catholic or Orthodox (Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian....)
The only reason they might vote for the GOP has to do with being small business owners or the fact that they are now 3rd or fourth generation and have lost contact with their ethnic and blue-collar roots.
JVS
(61,935 posts)More recently I've met Serbs who resent Clinton.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)BOG PERSON
(2,916 posts)JVS
(61,935 posts)Does she mean ethnic white voters as all white people, or does she use the term to mean voters who are white but still have ethnic identities (eastern European and catholic or orthodox) that are more typical of the traditional democratic base than the republicans' base.
BOG PERSON
(2,916 posts)she def. could have made herself clearer.
Igel
(35,191 posts)She's talking about the "Polish" vote.
If you can play to the Latino vote, why not the Polish vote?
Except that this isn't going to be how it's interpreted. All Euro-Americans are the same, don't you know. Apparently they all like pierogi
(In my family pierogi was a New Year's treat. Like the Thanksgiving lasagna that accompanied the turkey.)
liberal N proud
(60,298 posts)That what she really saying.
russspeakeasy
(6,539 posts)She is totally worthless.
ProgressiveEconomist
(5,818 posts)story at http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/a-trip-to-poland-with-an-eye-on-swing-states/ .
While the largest bloc of Polish-Americans are hometown Obama supporters in Chicago, and Obama beat McCain among Polish-Americans 52-42 overall, 44 percent of Polish-Americans say they are "conservative".
Thus a trip to Poland COULD HAVE been a smart way to target millions of white ethnic American voters had it been executed properly. Can you think of a bigger or better or more politically neglected group of white ethnic voters for Boston to have targeted?
RZM
(8,556 posts)Poles vote Democratic at a much higher rate than other white people. This story is total bunk.
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)Seriously?
She thinks those people living in Poland have direct descendants over here?
Wow.
Romulox
(25,960 posts)Blue Owl
(49,902 posts)n/t
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)And believe it or not, there are families with roots in both countries.
nanabugg
(2,198 posts)madrchsod
(58,162 posts)i bet the poland forum at stormfront was a buzz with mitten`s poland campaign
RZM
(8,556 posts)Yes, whites voted 55 percent for McCain. And they will probably do the same for Mitt. But Poles are concentrated in traditionally Democratic areas in the Great Lakes region. That region is pretty solidly Democratic. So both you and Cokie are probably guilty of not doing the most basic research.
And the beat goes on . . .