The GOP never ceases to talk about its need to "reach out" to minorities and women. Where, exactly, do they think the women and minorities are that it is necessary to "reach out" to them?

If the party opened its Beltway-blinded eyes they would see that women and so-called minorities are right here in America, and they are Americans. They are not freaks who have to be treated differently from everyone else.

Especially annoying was a report that the national convention will be aimed at attracting "women and minorities." This includes performances by Ricky Martin and the Back Street Boys, banishing members of Congress from the speakers’ platform (except for Sen. John McCain) and a focus on "women and minorities."

How insulting. The Republicans are going to skip all that dull serious stuff so the girls and the other adolescents can enjoy the convention.

GOP leaders should note a recent poll by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. It found that while more than 90 percent of blacks who are baby boomers or older vote Democratic, only 60 percent under 35 consider themselves Democrats. And what kind of issues are drawing blacks to the GOP from their ancestral home in the Democratic Party? Two of the most conservative issues in the GOP playbook—the flat tax and school vouchers. The GOP can make serious inroads on this Democratic fiefdom. If they get over the notion that minorities are aliens from another civilization who won’t respond to the party’s message like regular people.