What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
The immigrant vote has long been an apparently insoluble conundrum for the GOP. We've discussed Latinos, many of whom, despite holding conservative views, voted for Obama over McCain by a margin of more than two-to-one in 2008. We've also talked about how closely Asians are aligned with Republicans on a number of issues, but nevertheless vote Democrat (62% of the Asian vote went to Obama in 2008).
Over the past decade, Canada's Tories have faced a similar challenge in trying to figure out how to appeal to the large and growing immigrant voter bloc in some of the country's most populated (and therefore most crucial for an electoral victory) metropolitan areas. One welcome surprise that emerged from Canada's recent electoral shakeup is the degree of success that Conservatives achieved among immigrant voters. Here's how they did it:
- Conservatives established connections with immigrant voters
In one day during the 2011 election campaign, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney attended 15 different chai parties hosted by Indo-Canadian voters in Brampton West, Ont. That’s just a snapshot of his epic cross-Canada campaigning, but it’s indicative of the stamina and persistence of the Conservative point man for ethnic communities.
He and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have transformed their party from one that was perceived as hostile to new Canadians to one that is now home to a great many immigrant voters and Members of Parliament.
- Conservatives listened to and engaged with the leaders of immigrant communities in order to create a "constituency of askers"
The transformation of the Conservative party began in 2006 when Mr. Kenney embarked on a cross-country listening tour, engaging ethnic community leaders who previously felt repelled by the party. He asked what government could do for them. Then he initiated a series of symbolic gestures designed to build relationships, such as the apology for the Chinese Head Tax and cutting the immigrant landing fee.
A Conservative source said there was a deliberate strategy to deliver on the issues that mattered to these communities, but not instantly. That way they could create a constituency of “askers,” motivated leaders who could be converted to supporters.
- Conservatives communicated their core platform in the native tongues of their target immigrant voters
“People tend to forget that the main appeal isn’t on … community-specific issues. It’s based on the core platform,” Mr. Kenney said. “If you look at the ads we ran in Mandarin, Punjabi and Cantonese, it’s exactly that. Vote your values.”
And the results?
The Conservative majority was won primarily in the suburban ridings of the 905 area code and in the City of Toronto. Of the 18 seats they gained in that region, 14 are more than 45 per cent immigrant, and most would not long ago have been considered un-winnable for the Conservatives.
...The party also swept all four ridings in Brampton, which have large South Asian populations.
Go out and meet constituents from immigrant communities? Listen to their concerns? Produce a few targeted ads in the native languages of immigrant constituencies? It all sounds so simple, so trite, so...corny. But could it work for the GOP?
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Comments:
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
CJRun:
Leave Rubio alone; we need him here, in Florida. Also leave West alone, for the same reason. Go find your own, token, heroes while you contemplate what Dianne was actually saying, that we need to listen to some more people and find common ground.
You make the notion of listening to people sound like a bad thing, although perhaps I'm missing your intended tone.
I'm not saying that we pander and betray conservative principles. By no means! But it can't hurt to go out and talk to first and second generation immigrant constituencies to hear their concerns and share our vision with them. I love how cdor put it:
It's not a job for a token figure. America's a big place and it will take a concerted effort to reach these various constituencies with the optimistic and hopeful message that conservatism offers.
Jul '10
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
Diane Ellis, Ed.
I understand your distaste. There's something very sinister about talking about people as parts of various herds. On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with identifying with a particular community. And the flip side of that is figuring out how to appeal to these communities. · May 10 at 3:37pm
Hey! My mom's left-handed! How dare you?!
We should leave group pandering to the left and stick to broadly meaningful messages. They're better at the former (excepting culture) and we're better (excluding economics) at the latter.
Feb '11
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
The groundwork for the Tories success was the uniting of the Alliance Party of Canada, known as the Reform with the old Progressive Conservative Party of Canada into one party called the Conservative Party of Canada. The reason for the merger–splitting of the right wing vote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_of_Canada
Nov '10
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
As a former Canadian, with only personal observation, it appears that Canada attracts a different kind of immigrant than the USA. The majority of Canada's immigrants arrive by air rather than walking across the southern border. This one practical fact may be the defining difference.
Edited on May 11, 2011 at 7:08amOct '10
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
My advice to GOP is to "do no harm." Don't say anything racist or stupid. Reach out to the Hispanic groups.
(there's no need to reach out to "Asian groups". it's too diverse and fractured to figure out what "they" want anyway. as long as the republican candidate is competent and not a [redacted], and will leave them alone, they'll vote for the best candidate in the ballot. oh, and "do no harm".)
Edited on May 11, 2011 at 4:24pmAug '10
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
Minister Kenney didn't go around offering up loot and goodies to immigrant communities. He went around asking what it was they were really looking for. Increasingly, the answers were things like "protect religious freedom", "fight for entrepreneurs", and "fight crime".
The really ironic thing is that the Conservatives were attacked for "pandering" every time Minister Kenney attended an "ethnic" event, even though that's considered a no-brainer for leftist parties. They even shouted "racism" when the Conservatives used the word "ethnic", even though they use the word all the time.
Beyond the "ethnic" communities, there's another big demographic shift that Republicans should be eyeing - the Conservative Party of Canada did very well with low-income voters.
Here's a very good article that explores why that is. Again, the answer is that they want jobs instead of handouts, and they are most often the victims of violent crime: Why The Poor Vote Conservative
Nov '10
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
The conservative victory is not all that remarkable. Their share of the vote rose about about 7%. Folks need to realize that the left in Canada did win the election. They merely split their vote among 3 parties. They got 60% to the Conservatives 40%. If and when they get their act together and merge into one party (probably now the NDP), they will storm back.
Hate to be a harbinger but this is reality.
May '10
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
Robert Promm: The conservative victory is not all that remarkable. Their share of the vote rose about about 7%. Folks need to realize that the left in Canada did win the election. They merely split their vote among 3 parties. They got 60% to the Conservatives 40%. If and when they get their act together and merge into one party (probably now the NDP), they will storm back.
Hate to be a harbinger but this is reality. · May 11 at 8:31am
Yes. . . but that may not happen very soon. A majority of the newly-elected NDP MPs are from Quebec. Those people are going to receive scrutiny for the first time in their lives in the coming months; many of those clowns will not stand the test. As the seperatists fight to regain their vote, and as the Liberals try to exploit the amateurish mistakes of the NDP, Quebec will be highly volatile for at least the next election cycle (probably). Plus, the outcome was strongly influenced by the personal popularity (or lack thereof) of the NDP and Liberal leaders. More volatility, there.
The next federal election could be veeeeeery interesting.
Nov '10
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
@Fredösphere
The Quebecois have abandoned ethnic nationalism. They have finally learned that the majority English speaking population (particularly the liberal component) will bend over backwards to accommodate them. Further, the European-style social system that they desire is best paid for by others as per Maggie Thatcher; so, they will stay with Canada and try to make it even more socialistic.
Oct '10
Re: What the GOP Can Learn From the Tories' Success
it doesn't hurt i guess to do outreach to some asian groups to help clear the air (eg the GOP is not racist).
but most asians don't really want anything (handouts, welfare) from government. like tunku varadarajan said, they're strivers and self starters. they don't want higher taxes because they know most of it will only lead to waste. and they want to be left alone to do their thing without being harassed. yes, they were tea party before tea party was cool.
so pandering to these groups will not get you anywhere. they want what everybody else want--good government and peace and security.