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Front Page Talking Points

FOR THE WEEK OF NOV. 12, 2012

Close look at voters' choices for president reflect changes in U.S. population

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1.gifLook for coverage of the election's impact or changes that could happen in Washington, D.C.

2.gifCan you spot an article, photo or ad that reflects how America's population makeup is changing?

3.gifNow identify and discuss a news report on an issue of personal interest to young Americans or members of a minority group.

Analysts who dove into last week's presidential election results came up with findings that connect census data with political trends. President Obama won a second term thanks partly to strong support among racial and ethnic minorities, as well as from young voters – groups that make up a rising share of the population. "The 2008 Obama coalition wasn't a fluke; it was the country we are becoming," columnist Paul Krugman posted in his New York Times blog shortly after the counting. At NBC News, chief political correspondent Chuck Todd put it this way: "The most significant event of this presidential contest might very well have been the 2010 census."

The outcome is a stark message for the Republican Party, commentators on both sides say. Mitt Romney lost even though he won six out of every 10 white voters and a majority of senior citizens. That wasn't enough because the overall share of white voters and older voters is declining. They are 72 percent of the current electorate and by 2012 "will probably drop to 70 percent," Todd says, adding: "What happened was a demographic time bomb that had been ticking and that blew up in GOP faces."

Here's why population changes could put some Republicans at a disadvantage: A majority of black, Hispanic and young voters favor approaches on immigration, abortion and same-sex marriage that differ from more conservative views voiced by Mitt Romney and some others in his party. Nicholas Kristoff, another Times columnist, put it starkly a day after the election: "A coalition of aging white men is a recipe for failure in a nation that increasingly looks like a rainbow." Mark McKinnon, a former strategist for George W. Bush, agrees his party "needs messages and policies that appeal to a broader audience."

Voter says: "I feel closer to [Obama]. He cares about Spanish people." -- Omayra Vasquez, 43-year-old Federal Express worker in Denver

Columnist says: "The G.O.P. today is at war with too many in the next generation of America." – Thomas Friedman, New York Times

Broadcaster says: Republicans "can no longer rely on white voters to win national elections anymore." –Chuck Todd, NBC News White House correspondent

Front Page Talking Points is written by Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024

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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.

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