What's really in that GOP big tent?

The GOP has spent the last few years trying to convince voters that the GOP has a big tent, meaning that every racial, ethnic and interest group is welcome and well represented.

Let's see how that worked out in the 2012 presidential election.

President Obama won 55% of the women's vote
President Obama won 60% of the youth vote
President Obama won 73% of the Latino vote
President Obama won 77% of the gay vote
President Obama won 85% of the Asian vote
President Obama won 93% of the black vote

Mitt Romney did win 60% of the white vote. Interestingly, that was the same percentage of the white vote George H.W. Bush won in 1988. With his 60% of the white vote, Bush Sr. won 426 electoral votes while Romney's 60% of the white vote got him a measly 206. Do we detect a declining demographic here?

Moral of the election: To paraphrase the most famous quote from the movie Jaws: "You're gonna need a smaller tent".

Also published in the Kane County Chronicle, November 20, 2012