GOP should muster minority voters

OPINION:

In response to your Oct. 6 article “Hispanics lose zeal to turn out Democrat vote” (Page 1), I would like to ask this important question as we head toward the midterm elections: Why does the Republican Party not make an all-out effort to go after the Hispanic and African-American vote and break the Democratic Party’s stranglehold on these critical segments of the electorate once and for all?

Every year minority voters vote overwhelmingly for Democratic Party candidates for office, and these politicians have come to depend on this support to gain and keep political power. Without minority support, large numbers of Democrats would be swept from office, and that is especially true this year.

However, minority voters should not be voting Democratic because the Democratic economic and social agenda is very damaging to their communities. Whether it is minimum-wage increases that destroy jobs for minority youths, teachers unions’ control over inner-city schools, dependency caused by the welfare state, the high cost of living for poor families due to trade protectionism and the refusal to allow more oil drilling, the policies of the Democratic Party have done enormous damage over the past few decades to the well-being of the African-American and Hispanic communities.

If the Republican Party would only go into the minority communities and tell the voters how much they and their families have been harmed by the Democratic Party and its agenda, I am convinced that the GOP could achieve an earth-shattering victory over their opponents in November.

JOE ARMOUR

Rockville, Md.