> 74 Female members of Congress, 72% of them Democrats.
> 41 African American members of Congress, 100% of them Democrats.
> 24 Hispanic American members of Congress, 75% of them Democrats.
> 7 Asian American members of Congress, 100% of them Democrats.
Check the facts:
Women in Congress: http://usgovinfo.abo...
Ethnic Majority: http://www.ethnicmaj...
The Democratic Party is too disorganized and diverse to be controlled by any one group or class of people and that is our greatest strength. The Republican Party has been organized and disciplined because they are owned and operated by a small group of wealthy and organized people. This small group of high powered, big money interests have been making moves on the Republican Party for a long time, finally taking over after the Civil Rights Act was signed and Barry Goldwater was defeated in 1964. Since that time, a more disciplined, uniform and focused Republican Party has been building the powerhouse we see today in complete control of our country.
In 1912, progressive, Teddy Roosevelt split the Republican Party and helped Democrat Woodrow Wilson win, allowing big money industrialists to begin a conservative takeover of the Republican Party. In 1948, Harry Truman and Hubert Humphrey introduced an aggressive Civil Rights platform, which began a shift of white southern Democrats to the Republican Party. Shortly after the Civil Rights Act was signed in 1964 most of the remaining white southern segregationists moved to the Republican Party, led by Strom Thurmond.
At this point, the power base of the Republican Party was able to herd most of the white males into one Party and use a strategy of race baiting, fear mongering and divisive wedge issues to take and maintain control of our country. Republicans struggle to maintain a fa+šade of diversity but the vast majority of diverse members of our government are Democrats.
The point I am trying to make is that there is a HUGE difference between the Democratic and Republican Parties. The diversity numbers speak for themselves and they are just one clear indication of the massive difference between Democrats and Republicans.
Diversity of opinion, culture and values requires a tolerance for flexibility, compromise and imperfect political candidates. Too many of us are unwilling to support candidates unless they perfectly meet unrealistic standards. This is one of the biggest reasons that Democrats loose and it is very important that we get over this and embrace our disorganized diversity of voices as our greatest strength. The good news is the Democratic Party is the party of the people. The bad news is we often let our diversity of opinion; culture and values get in the way of preserving our Democracy.
BTW: While Democrats hold a minority of seats in congress, those seats represent a larger number of people than Republicans and this is another clear indicator that the Democratic Party is the party of the people and that Republicans have gerrymandered their way into control of our country.
-----------
Whether they list him or not, he is distinctly a current member of Congress.
Wonder if they just forgot to count him or didn't realize that India was part of Asia :)
And the House is missing Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), although is pretty close to a DINO. Former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D), a true progressive, tried to "Lieberman" him earlier in the year but he fell just short.