“If you want to know what the future electorate of Georgia looks like, look at those who are in our schools right now,” the governor added. “We cannot afford to lose those votes, those volunteers, those potential public servants, because of negative perceptions of the Republican Party. We must reach out to those individuals.”
Public Service Commissioner Chuck Eaton tried to get across a similar message in his convention speech, noting that in recent years the percentage of white registered voters in Georgia has decreased from more than 70 percent to about 58 percent, with a corresponding increase in the percentage of nonwhite voters.
“I’m not talking about softening our values,” Eaton said. “I’m talking about reaching out to people who ought to be sharing our values.”
Deal and Eaton were making the same point that has been made on the national level by such party figures as Karl Rove: Republicans need to expand beyond their traditional base of white supporters and try to appeal to other demographic groups, such as the fast-growing Latino community.
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