The GOP is rightfully trying to reach out to minority voters. There are a number of ways to go about it, and politicians and pundits are trying just about every one. It's a tricky process, inviting in Hispanics and Blacks without alienating the solid white, conservative base of the party. There will be many growing pains but the most dangerous thing that the GOP can do is nothing, or worse, fight the inevitable demographic trends.

One thing I really wish that we would stop doing, though, is using the argument that it was the Democrats who instituted Jim Crow. It's true, of course, but largely irrelevent. Our continued attempts to push this point is at best futile and at worst condescending. It's assuming that they don't know what everyone should know: The parties have changed over the years.

Yes, the Democrats have an abysmal record on civil rights in the past. That is, however, they're past. They've moved from being wrong (pro-segregation) to being... well... wrong (affirmative action)... but in a very different way. The Democrats today would hardly endorse their policies of thirty years ago. The same can be said of Republicans, of course. The northeastern liberal establishment that used to run the GOP is no longer prevalent and the Rockerfellian idealogues have bolted the party for the most part. Similarly, many of the southern conservatives have switched from their party to ours. When we talk about the old southern Democrats, we're talking about Trent Lott, Phil Gramm, and a host of others that are known more prominantly for being on our team.

The past is the past and we should leave it there. The parties have changed enough to render comparisons moot. What we need to concentrate on is the present. What do we have to offer minorities right now? We have faith-based government programs, school choice, and religious conservatism that they already agree with us on. We have empowerment programs that even though they don't agree with us presently, we can try to show them how our programs are ultimately in their best interest. If we can't convince them of that, then we have to write them off or change our policies. The latter being a dangerous proposition, because we'll never out-Democrat the Democrats.

Our ideas are better. We need to convince them of that. We don't need to convince them that our ideas were better thirty years ago.