Juan Williams moderated a discussion on the role race might play in the 2012 elections. Panelists agreed that race would be a factor. Topics included the Arizona immigration law, the Asian voting bloc, President Obama’s standing among white voters, and the Republican Party strategy in the 2012 election and in recent elections. Karen Narasaki in her remarks said that the Republican Party strategy appears to assume that they will not get minority votes and will therefore make voting more difficult for minorities, citing the spate of recent voter identification laws as proof.
“Political Factors” was the first panel of the Symposium on the State of Race in America held at the Newseum by the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program in association with Comcast Corporation.