Issues ripe for state GOP

The shrinking white vote that doomed Mitt Romney on Tuesday has sparked a sobering national debate over who should be allowed inside an expanded Republican tent — and what the invitations should look like.

According to exit polling, white voters made up 72 percent of the U.S. electorate, another step in a well-documented decline.

We won’t have a racial breakdown of the statewide vote for several weeks. But among all those registered, white voters for the first time made up less than 60 percent of the Georgia electorate.

With the right candidate, some Democrats think Georgia can be a player in the 2016 presidential contest. Realistic contention in a race for governor could require more time — though not much.

Georgia, like the rest of the country, is quickly entering a period in which every demographic group will have to form an alliance with another if it is to succeed politically.

So what can be done to extend the 10-year Republican reign in Georgia? Curiously, the first move goes to 60 Democratic members of the 180member House, who gather Monday at the state Capitol to select their officers. Stacy Abrams of Atlanta will remain House Democratic leader.

Party elders are worried that the caucus, now comprised of a large African-American majority, won’t recognize