A White Christian Party

Howard Dean got in some trouble for characterizing Republicans that way in 2005. He was merely citing the numbers:

PRINCETON, NJ -- More than 6 in 10 Republicans today are white conservatives, while most of the rest are whites with other ideological leanings; only 11% of Republicans are Hispanics, or are blacks or members of other races. By contrast, only 12% of Democrats are white conservatives, while about half are white moderates or liberals and a third are nonwhite.

Blogger is bloggered and won't display images, but the rundown of the poll is here.

This really informs the Sotomayor debate. With conservatives retreating to their ideological corners, it's not hard to expect a certain paranoia to creep in. White conservatives see the world changing and cannot get a handle on it. They believe that this diversity and multiculturalism targets them and their homogenous group, and they imagine that the nonwhite have an unfair advantage over them. It's perverse, but in context I get it.

And the world is only getting more diverse and more tolerant. Hard to see where conservatives go from here.