The result of the 2012 United States presidential election is widely considered to be very tight. Both campaigns put an emphasis on the minority vote in this election cycle – visible not only in the strong efforts to put a high number of representatives of minorities on the agenda during both conventions. American minorities have increased their share of the vote from 12.5 per cent in 1988 to 25 per cent in 2008. The United States are projected to be “majority minority” in 2050. In the long run, these ethnic politics are unsustainable, and profoundly unhealthy for the country.