Oh the problems that plague the Republicans when it comes to acceptance. While they just recently admitted that their losses in November were in no small part due to the party appearing intolerant to minorities and gays, they have done little to repair that problem. Now we have one high level Republican official in Florida resigning just because of those problems. Not just that, he has even turned over his GOP card for a Democratic one.
Pablo Pantoja, was the State Director of Florida Hispanic Outreach for the Republican National Committee. Yesterday he sent this email out to his colleagues:
Friend,
Yes, I have changed my political affiliation to the Democratic Party.
It doesn’t take much to see the culture of intolerance surrounding the Republican Party today. I have wondered before about the seemingly harsh undertones about immigrants and others. Look no further; a well-known organization recently confirms the intolerance of that which seems different or strange to them.
Think Progress adds this:
Pantoja goes on to specifically cite last week’s revelation — that an author of Heritage’s false report on the cost of the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill wrote a dissertation in which he suggested that Hispanics are at a permanent disadvantage because they have lower IQs — as the final straw in his political evolution.
I’m sue Pantoja didn’t come to this decision lightly. The fact that he put his own self ahead of his party shows that Pantoja was a rare kind of Republican. He should be congratulated for his choice.