The 2012 election may prove to be a watershed moment not only in politics, but also for the legal profession. The post-election coverage saw pundits of all stripes agree that the outcome of the election was swayed by a diverse coalition that included women, ethnic and racial minorities, blue-collar whites and voters for whom LGBT equality mattered. Rarely has the “business case” for diversity been made with such stunning clarity.
The day after the election, when asked to describe the most important lesson from the results, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said, “50,000 Latinos turn 18 every month in America. What are [Republicans] going to do about that?” His question hinted at potential future electoral failures resulting from an inadequately diverse base. On the same program, National Urban League President Marc Morial said the election illustrated that “coalition politics will rule the 21st century.” Commentators from disparate political perspectives, from the Reverend Al Sharpton and Rachel Maddow to Karl Rove and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, acknowledged the diversity of the coalition that re-elected the president.
