Quote:
Originally Posted by Rerun
Most black voters in the States aren't 1st or 2nd generation US citizens (which was kind of the point in my response to you about ethnic voting)... and if they were, I doubt they would identify with Cain, even though he is black. They probably have as much chance of identifying with him as I have identifying with those spoiled rich broads on that new tv show Real Housewifes of Vancouver
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Firstly, Leech made no such distinction between Muslims/Sikhs and new immigrants in his comments.
Second, as the the studies I linked to suggest (including one that focused on Latinos in America, which, as the fastest growing ethnic group in America, is surely made up of millions and millions of new immigrants), ethnic voting blocs, to the extent that they exist, identify with candidates/party who speak to their concerns, not to candidates of the same ethnicity (although obviously sometimes the candidate/party who speaks to that groups concerns is also a member of that ethnic group.)
Lastly, this is all really a collateral issue (although an interesting one.) The real problem that I have with Leech's supposedly new-and-improved comments are that he is effectively saying this to his Muslim/Sikh voters: Look, the non-Muslim and non-Sikh decision-makers/power holders in your government (i.e., old white people like me) hold the mistaken and stereotypical belief that "you people" only vote for "you people" candidates, and therefore they won't take your "you people" candidate seriously. However, they will take me seriously because I am white and therefore wasn't elected solely because I am one of "you people". Therefore you should vote for me. I find that appalling.