Are conservatives committing Census suicide?

Critics say a boycott of the census won&#039;t do the GOP any favors.

(Image credit: Corbis)

last updated 8 January 2015

Egged on by anti-Big Government Republicans like Reps. Michele Bachmann (MN) and Ron Paul (TX), some conservative voters are reportedly refusing to participate in this year's Census — a serious mistake, argues Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC). Not only are the anti-Census arguments bunk, he says, if the "count me out" movement takes off, we might actually see fewer Republicans in Congress, since the Census is used to allocate congressional districts. Are conservatives killing themselves politically?

Census boycotts are "political suicide": McHenry's right to "scold" anti-Census conservatives, says Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. Not only could the Census opt-out initiative "inadvertently" damage Republicans, it hardly looks good when supposedly "strict-constructionist" conservatives urge a boycott of one of the few exercises actually mandated in the Constitution.