Thread: Calif. GOP looks to Hispanic voters for revival

Calif. GOP looks to Hispanic voters for revival

By JULIET WILLIAMS
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
Published: Saturday, September 17, 2011 17:01 PDT

After failing to keep pace with California's shifting demographics, the state Republican Party is attempting a revival by revamping its strategy to appeal to the fastest-growing segment of the state's electorate.

Yet transcending divisions with Hispanics on immigration issues and focusing on other matters such as education and the economy will not be easy for a party that now registers less than a third of the state's voters.

Even as party leaders talked about creating a sustainable strategy for Hispanic outreach, much of the lineup at the California Republican Party convention in Los Angeles this weekend would seem to be at odds with those goals. The headliners are two conservative presidential candidates who are unlikely to appeal to mainstream voters, much less many Hispanics in California: tea party favorite Michele Bachmann and small-government icon Ron Paul, who drew hundreds of enthusiastic supporters to his morning events.

Saturday's events featured a first for California Republicans, a town hall conversation hosted by a popular Spanish-language television host about how the party can connect with Hispanics. It will air next weekend on the Spanish-language television network Univision.

Party Chairman Tom del Beccaro, who took over in March, called the outreach plan unprecedented, mostly because he said Republicans plan to follow through this time.

"The dynamic today is that we have a single point of discussion in this country between Republicans and Latinos, which is immigration," he said. "As important as that is, so are jobs, so is education and so are public safety. And the fact that we don't have ongoing discussions with them on these other categories is our fault and what needs to change."

Having seen such efforts come and go in years past, some moderates are going around the formal party mechanism in their own bid to appeal to Hispanics.

Hector Barajas, a former communications director for the party who is now a consultant to Spanish-language television network Univision, is leading a program to recruit Hispanic Republican candidates for local office. The first target is Los Angeles County, heavily Democratic and Hispanic.

The effort, called Grow Elect, has a roster of 15 candidates competing for school board, city council and other local seats this November. Barajas said Republicans too often mistake "a mariachi band and Mexican food" for genuine outreach to Hispanics.

"I was an employee for the party for eight years, and you know, there would always be a program," to appeal to Hispanic voters during elections, he said. "Once the campaign ended, the program would end. Then there'd be another program that would end. There was no sustainability on anything."

He said the party must have an outreach program that is sustainable regardless of internal politics or who the chairman is.

Voters identify most closely with their local officials, Barajas said, and minority groups often rely on "third-party validators" in their community for advice on voting and other matters.

The next step will be getting the effort to translate at the polls, especially in statewide elections.

In 2008, a splinter group of Republicans with ties to then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a well-funded effort to recruit more moderate candidates with greater appeal to minority voters. Last year, Republican leaders promised that Hispanics would turn out in record numbers, pulled in by former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman's multimillion-dollar outreach efforts in her failed run for governor.

Those efforts fizzled by Election Day after revelations that Whitman had fired her illegal immigrant maid. She lost the race by 13 percentage points to Democrat Jerry Brown in an election that saw Democratic candidates sweep every statewide office.

"She was trying to make up for 15 years of a consistent lack of engagement," del Beccaro said.

GOP registration has been sliding for years, with Republicans now accounting for 31 percent of registered voters, compared to 44 percent for Democrats and about 20 percent for independents.

Any strategy to revive that registration cannot succeed without persuading Hispanics, who comprise a third of the California electorate.

At Saturday's forum, the panelists talked about the need to connect on topics beyond immigration, but it was that issue which drew the most scrutiny.

"I would love for CRP to move forward a platform and get candidates to change their rhetoric to be more compassionate," University of California, Berkeley student Francisco Loayza, 20, told the group.

Loayza, who is treasurer of the Berkeley College Republicans group, said GOP candidates should campaign on cutting the immense immigration bureaucracy, in which it takes people years and thousands of dollars to become Americans.

"It's the first time I've heard a Republican agree with me and say `You know what? I think that big bureaucratic system takes too long.'"

Many Hispanics believe Republicans don't care about them or the government programs they believe help them, said Selena Sanchez, 27. The preschool teacher from Riverside came to the convention Saturday to support Paul, the presidential candidate who advocated a Libertarian-inspired minimalist view of government that includes withdrawing the U.S. from NATO and eliminating the Federal Reserve.

"Democrats talk in a way that makes people feel good, but what they're doing in government is hurting everybody," said Sanchez, who is a Republican.

Next year's elections will hold wild cards for all candidates, regardless of party. New legislative and congressional districts drawn by an independent citizens' panel and a top-two primary system are expected to force candidates to appeal to a broader cross-section of voters. In theory, that creates opportunities for moderate Republican candidates.

Whether die-hard Republicans will support candidates who can appeal to mainstream California remains to be seen. An internal struggle over whether the party should hold tight to conservative principles on guns, gay marriage and abortion or shift to the middle is ongoing at this weekend's gathering.

Moderates led by wealthy GOP donor and Stanford University physicist Charles Munger Jr. want to revamp the party platform so it emphasizes economic issues and fewer government regulations instead of social issues.

The party delayed a decision on the changes until next February.

Source: http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA ... 426C.shtml

And the Associated Press rides to the aid of Globalists and their invading army of illegal immigrant voters once again!

Nothing like big liberals at the Associated Press dispensing advice Republicans, which is actually opinion, masquerading as a news article.

The shit has become so thick in the main stream media now you could cut it with a knife!

Steady stream of article after article pushing for the surrender of Americans that oppose illegal immigration and amnesty.

W

Those efforts fizzled by Election Day after revelations that Whitman had fired her illegal immigrant maid. She lost the race by 13 percentage points to Democrat Jerry Brown in an election that saw Democratic candidates sweep every statewide office.

Whitman didn't lose the election because she fired her illegal alien maid, she lost the election because she hired her to begin with.

Originally Posted by Judy

Those efforts fizzled by Election Day after revelations that Whitman had fired her illegal immigrant maid. She lost the race by 13 percentage points to Democrat Jerry Brown in an election that saw Democratic candidates sweep every statewide office.

Whitman didn't lose the election because she fired her illegal alien maid, she lost the election because she hired her to begin with.

You are correct Judy... And the lame stream media spews their B.S.
We ain't buying it one bit are we!

what part don't you understand
any illegal immigrants can not vote I don't care if you came over when you were5 you still can not vote . you are not a USA Citizen
every one that is illegal immigrant.
1 did you have a test ?
2 did you get a shot ?
3 can you read a book ?
& Many more test to come . well did you ?
so you did not come In the right way
& you are not going to vote if some one pay you a good buck
your ass has it & the same for the Party that pay you
No Amnesty

Statistics in this article might work in other states, but not in California. This article proves that they don't get it. A lot of registered Democrats are really Independents. They have not bothered to change party because of two factors, one that the Republican Party has not come out hard enough on illegal immigration, two if they register Independent they are limited on voting in the Primaries.

Many Californian's are seeing first hand the double standard being implemented in California. We are seeing the favortism towards illegal immigrants and minorities. Our state government is run by the Unions and Ethnic Activist groups. Unfortunetly they are forcing many California citizens to not vote party lines, but to vote according to a candidates last name.