Michael Tomasky: White Voters Likely to be Less Conservative in the Future

Michael Tomasky, in a column for The Daily Beast, argues that the American white population is evolving in a less conservative direction, and that conservative calls for the Republican Party to rely solely on white voters is foolish. Simply put, American whites are not a culturally static conservative voting bloc that can be harvested in greater future numbers.

In the last few election cycles, whites with graduate degrees are trending Democratic, and among college-educated whites in general, Romney's edge over Obama was modest.

Among younger working class whites, in turn, Tomasky maintains that working class millennials tend to support same-sex marriage, are pro-immigrant, and are less religious than their elders.  And while this demographic is likely to tack right on certain issues as they age, they are unlikely to jettison their current affinity for cultural tolerance.

Michael Tomasky: A Less Conservative U.S. White Population in the Making

"White people—yep, even working-class white people—are going to get less conservative in coming years, so the Republicans’ hopes of building a white-nationalist party will likely be dashed in the future even by white people themselves."

---Michael Tomasky, The Daily Beast