Liberals and Democrats like to disparage the GOP as an exclusionary club utterly bereft of diversity. After watching the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire last week, I think I can debunk that characterization.  GOP debate: The Repulican Party would do well to diversify.  GOP debate: The Repulican Party would do well to diversify.  The audience I saw at Saint Anselm College in Manchester was the personification of diversity: Some people wore glasses, but many did not; some looked a tad overweight, but others appeared to be fit, even svelte. And while many in the audience appeared to be middle-aged or trending senior, I saw some who appeared to be not a day over 35. How much more diversity do you want?  In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes a variety of opinions from outside writers. On political and policy matters, we publish opinions from across the political spectrum.  Roughly half of our columns come from our Board of Contributors, a group whose interests range from education to religion to sports to the economy. Their charge is to chronicle American culture by telling the stories, large and small, that collectively make us what we are.  We also publish weekly columns by Al Neuharth, USA TODAY's founder, and DeWayne Wickham, who writes primarily on matters of race but on other subjects as well. That leaves plenty of room for other views from across the nation by well-known and lesser-known names alike.  The nit-pickers, of course, will say that the usual markers of diversity in politics — skin color and ethnicity — were totally absent in an audience that appeared to be 100% white. But I'd point out that there was at least one black person in the auditorium, and he was on stage: presidential candidate Herman Cain. That was a pretty convincing example of inclusion, if you ask me — a black man sharing the stage with five white men and a white woman.  As for the audience, what do you expect in a state that is more than 93% white? And don't forget that most candidates who make it to the New Hampshire primary will have already subjected themselves to voters in Iowa, which is only about 91% white.  Every four years, some pundit or academic argues that Iowa and New Hampshire should yield their all-important first- and second-place positions in the nominating process to states that are more demographically reflective of the nation. To accept that argument, it would help to know what difference it might make if the first two states in the Republicans' nominating process rotated among such comparatively diverse states as New Jersey, Texas, Nevada and Florida.  In fact, the first GOP presidential debate this year, held May 5 in South Carolina, a state that is about 35% minority, offered a clue as to how much difference it would make: none. As far as I could tell, the audience there was totally white, too.  Sarcasm aside, if you take the long view, the Republican Party is living in a world of self-delusion. Its guiding philosophy is this: We are a party with core conservative principles. If you agree with those principles, you are welcome to join us — but we don't compromise and we don't play the race card.  Winning elections, however, is about addition, not subtraction. The percentage of white voters in the USA is shrinking fast. In just 12 years, a majority of children will be minorities. Twenty years after that, a majority of the country's population will be minorities.  If I were a big-time Republican strategist, I'd be thinking about how to get a much, much bigger share of the Latino vote in 2012 and beyond than the 31% John McCain got in 2008. I'd be scheming to raise the national profile of Latino Republicans, such as U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Govs. Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada.  This is not rocket science; it's not even political science. It's not about pandering; it's about reaching out to people who don't look like you with a message that appeals to them, registering them to vote, and making sure they get to the polls.  One other thing that would help: When they stage debates, the Republicans should require that the sponsors prohibit camera shots of the audience.  Don Campbell, a former Washington-based political reporter, columnist and editor, lives in Dayton, Ohio, and is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.  , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to  We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button.
Just scan the audience of the last debate to see GOP's looming problem, in a country where minorities will become the majority.