San Francisco, CA. USA - An African American multi-racial male is
making history as a serious contender in the 2008 presidential
race.
However, a
white male Republican may have the best credentials for
promoting cultural diversity.
A
recent poll
indicates that the Republican party's candidate for president is
not someone who can lead Americans toward embracing their cultural
and racial differences. Fourteen percent of the respondents in the
Diversity Training University International (DTUI.com) poll
selected Mitt Romney as the candidate that would most likely
improve racial and ethnic relations. Less than one percent voted
for Giuliani. McCain accumulated a dismal 2% of votes.
Barack Obama received the most votes with 61%. Hillary
Clinton received 11% of the votes. John Edwards, a Super Tuesday
casualty, receive two votes.
What's the story with Mitt Romney? It is no doubt that his
pro gay civil union stance as governor of Massachusetts has a lot
to do with it. It also helps that his state passed the civil union
law. While Mitt has somewhat retracted his pro-civil union stance
during the short run for Republican party presidency nomination, he
still has an equality record that the Democratic race front runner
cannot easily match.
America can no longer afford a leader who lacks cultural
competence.
Americans were taken by surprise when Hillary Clinton and
Barack Obama took center stage in the primaries. Their society has
changed, but they are unprepared for it. Yet, Americans are basking
in the glory of having had a woman and person of color competing in
the race. They like witnessing the progress that has been made in
American society. This is one more reason that the Republicans are
in trouble. The economy is certainly a huge concern, but don't
discount the power of a candidate's social capital in this
election.
The country needs a leader who can harness its cultural
diversity in the interest of global competitiveness. This
translates to McCain needing Romney's diversity leadership
experience to improve his uphill battle for the presidency.
DTUI.com website visitors had opportunities to respond to the
poll from January 27, 2008 to August 11, 2008 resulting in sample
of 384 respondents.
DTUI.com site visitors and blog subscribers tend to be highly
educated (78% college educated), represented slightly more by
women, at least 45 years old, and in the higher income brackets
(i.e., about one in three visitors earn more than $100K annually).
The results have about a 4-point error margin. Data were analyzed
by the DTUI.com research division.