Republicans and evangelicals

A friend recently referred me to an article, "My GOP: Too old, too white to win" by Bill Greener at http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/07/20/gop_math/
Greener argues that the Republican party in the US is headed for disaster, unless it figures out how to be less Caucasian. It is not, he claims, a matter of revamping the "brand", but a matter of fundamental mathematics. "The numbers simply do not add up to the GOP prevailing in a national election any time soon," he writes.

There is no point in repeating the article: it is on line, after all. But the sum of it is that the party depends on older white voters, and they simply do not make up as large a section of the American voting public as they did, for example, in 1976, when non-Hispanic whites cast 90% of presidential votes. Last year, this group was down to 75% of voters.

Greener points out that Republican voters are increasingly in favour of policies unattractive to the minorities they wish to attract. For example, a Republican position on immigration might not be particularly attractive to Hispanic voters who will be thinking of its impact on friends and relatives who may sometime wish to immigrate.

He writes, "A recent poll shows Republicans, at the national level, are viewed favourably by fewer than 10% of all Hispanics." He calls this "a disaster."
The reason I have quoted Greener so extensively is not that I particularly favour the Republicans in the US. But many of the issues he mentions are issues Christians also face. Greener comments, "...debates about whether conservatives or moderates need more of a voice in the party strike me as completely missing the point. The debate, for now, should begin and end with asking and answering how it is that we can remain true to our basic principles and grow among these key voter groups that are needed to win elections." He might as aptly apply those sentiments to churches.

Far too often, we debate questions of whom to elect, and which doctrinal statement will be the norm, and forget that it is far more important to communicate a life-changing gospel message than to fine tune the machinery once more.

What kind of fine-tuning could we defer to a more convenient day, and what do you think we need to do to "grow among key voter groups"?