Republicans Need Interest Groups

Democrats aren’t alone in viewing the electorate as a collection of interest groups. Mike Allen and John Harris, in Politico, report that Republican political guru Karl Rove feels the GOP needs to score gains in four areas:

Suburbanites: "The heart of our party is married couples with children, but they are also those that are most prone to be mobile in our society and hence less linked into politics."

Younger voters: "That's where you set in motion things that come to pass not in a matter of an election or two, but a matter of a decade or two."

African-Americans: "You can't claim to be a great political party if you're getting 9 or 10 or 11 percent. One of the interesting things about the 2006 election is that we appeared to make gains in the African-American community even while we were losing a national election."

Latinos: "This group is rapidly growing. We do well among them in some elections and not well in others."

Allen and Harris add that Rove has a special interest in those who, like him, attended college but did not graduate. Rove’s current passion is the link between education and income.

Comment: While going after the African-American vote is symbolic—designed to show Republicans aren’t the racists they once were, Rove’s other three groups are key for Republicans to have a future in an increasingly suburbanized, multi-ethnic America.

Not only is the connection between education and income important, but also Republicans are America’s best hope for progress on improving schools. Democrats are wedded to the teachers’ union-dictated status quo.