Dems' Diversity preview

Republicans thought if they could put enough diversity on the stage (Condi Rice, Bobby Jindal, a Hispanic speaker, an Asian) that we wouldn't notice the lily-whiteness, the affluence, and the predominant maleness of the delegates in the hall.

But we did notice.

Now, here's what's coming up for the Democratic convention.   The convention manager is the Hispanic Los Angeles mayor,  Antonio Villaraigosa;  the keynote speaker is San Antonio mayor Julian Castro, another Hispanic, whose brother, Congressional candidate Joaquin Castro, will introduce him.

The Obama campaign's political director is a Latina, as is the president of the College Democrats.  Lilly Ledbetter, whose unequal pay treatment resulted in the Lilly Ledbetter Act, Obama's first official law signed, will be speaking.

The Chair of the Democratic National Committee is a Jewish woman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.  The DNC treasurer, Andrew Tobias, is gay and will be speaking.   The Democratic platform supports marriage equality and pro-choice on abortion rights.

Note their depth of involvement;  they are not just high profile celebrity speakers brought into lend color and gender diversity.  But the really important difference is in the delegate makeup:

     27% are African-American
     13% are Latino
     50% are women

Delegates will come from every walk of life:  rich, poor, black, white, Latino, Asian, Christians, Jews, Muslims, gays, lesbians."

And -- of course, the nominee is African-American.  

That's the way to do diversity.   Be diverse, don't just fake it with selected celebrity speakers.

Ralph