Republican National Committee’s Growth & Opportunity Project and Asian Americans

I was reading the Wall Street Journal the other day when I cam across an article about how The national Republican Party recently published a self-analysis report entitled the “Growth and Opportunity Project” about the Party and its recent Presidential loss in the 2012 election as well as the declining perception of the Party:

“”Public perception of the party is at record lows,” the report says. “Young voters are increasingly rolling their eyes at what the party represents, and many minorities wrongly think that Republicans do not like them or want them in the country. When someone rolls their eyes at us, they are not likely to open their ears to us.” In page after page, the report—compiled over the past several months by five veteran GOP campaign operatives—describes the party as ideologically ossified, unable to speak to a wider electorate and increasingly seen as representing the rich and the old. In focus groups, voters who said they had left the Republican Party described the GOP as “scary,” “narrow minded,” “out of touch,” and as the party of “stuffy, old men. … To rebound, the party is planning a large-scale marketing and outreach campaign over coming months, reaching into neighborhoods and regions of the country where Republicans don’t usually fare well, Mr. Priebus said.””

That is a pretty self critical that when I first read the article, I thought that maybe it was Democratic National Committee that wrote the report. After reading the part that got really got me interested to see what kind of outreach the Republican Party was planning or recommending regarding Asian Americans, which I have blogged quite extensively that overwhelming went Democratic in the 2012 presidential election. You can download the report here (.pdf – 816k).

In a section of the report called “Demographic Partners,” the report has a sub-section entitled “Asia and Pacific Islander Americans,” and in that sub-section and describes the feedback they received:

“One common theme throughout our discussion with various APA groups is that the Republican Party needs to stop talking about outreach and begin talking about inclusion. As such, the Party can no longer function with a “flyover campaign” mentality where candidates fly in and out of communities for fundraisers but do not substantively engage with members of the communities. The RNC must greatly expand its inclusion effort and presence in APA communities, and in many cases that means hosting events or listening sessions on new territory — both culturally and geographically.”

Sounds kind of obvious, but given the fact that majority of Asian Americans do reside in “blue” Democratic leaning states like California and the Northeast, a point that should be taken. When I had heard Obama was going for a “50 state” strategy in 2008, I thought it would be a waste of time and resources, but Obama (also given his fundraising advantage) was able to turn some “red” states into “blue” and battleground states in his favor. The reports recommendations were:

1. The RNC should hire APA communications directors and political directors for key states and communities across the country.
2. The RNC must substantively engage with the APA community throughout the year. Inclusion efforts can no longer be lip service, but need to be an organized effort within the community.
3. The Republican Party is one of tolerance and respect, and we need to ensure that the tone of our message is always reflective of these core principles. In the modern media environment, a poorly phrased argument or out-of-context statement can spiral out of control and reflect poorly on the Party as a whole. Thus we must emphasize during candidate trainings, retreats, etc., the importance of a welcoming, inclusive message in particular when discussing issues that relate directly to a minority group. This includes flexibility for allowing candidates to run as Republicans who may break with the Party on certain issues, whether economic or social.
4. Hire field staff within APA communities nationally to build meaningful relationships. This cannot happen every four years but needs to be a year-round effort.
5. Promote forward-looking, positive policy proposals to APA communities that unite voters, such as the Republican Party’s support for policies promoting economic growth.
6. The RNC should develop a nationwide database of APA leaders.
7. The RNC must improve on promoting APA staff and candidates within the Party. The GOP should utilize APA elected officials as surrogates both in their communities and with the national media. At the staff level, the personnel should be visible and involved in senior political and budget decisions and not be limited to demographic outreach.
8. The RNC must develop a national APA surrogate list to promote a high-level presence in Asian American media.
9. Establish swearing-in citizenship teams to introduce new citizens after naturalization ceremonies to the Republican Party.
10. The RNC and State Parties should make every effort to feature and use diverse committee members.

In reading recommendation #3, I was reminded of the first Vietnamese American Congressman, Congressman Joseph Cao, who seemed primarily to be a Republican due to his stance on abortion (he’s “Pro-Life” due to his faith). If I recall correctly, I do think the Republican Party did reach out to Congressman Cao first when he was first thinking of running for Congress to represent a part of New Orleans. And at the state level, the Republican Party has been very successful – electing Indian American governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of South Carolina.

A lot of these recommendations, again seem plainly obvious, and from my observations, the Democrats are way, way, way ahead of the Republicans on probably every single above recommendation. But at least the Republican Party, or at least the authors of this report, are somewhat self-aware. Although I am very Democratic, one of my best friends from college is a conservative. The most politically active and influential Aisan American I know (not well) is C.C. Yin, the epitome of the American Dream, is a Republican (who is quite non-partisan in supporting Asian Americans into public office and issues facing the Asian American community).

In fact, I remember Congressman Judy Chu at a fundraiser stating that without C.C. Yin’s support and reaching out to House Speaker John Boehner, it would have been much more difficult for the House to have passed the resolution on an apology for the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Acts.

But at the end of the day, the Republican Party really needs to think about the tone of their messengers as well as their policies. Because a lot of the rhetoric coming from Republicans, especially the Tea Party wing of the party, comes across as anti-immigrant and racist. After the 2012 presidential defeat, Republicans are starting to understand that although Asian Americans are affected by immigration reform (just not to the extent that Hispanics are), the negative and hateful tone many in the Republican Party express carries over  to Asian Americans. Voting to many can often be a vote for the lesser of two evils, and from the results of the 2012 election, many Asian Americans have concluded that voting Democratic is a better choice for them. But I certainly support the RNC’s efforts to be more inclusive and support Republican Asian Americans, because if I were one – especially living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’m imagining I’m feeling really, really, really lonely and could use some support.