Scott Stroud: Hopefuls' immigration shift means xenophobia is back in style

Web Posted: 11/23/2007 10:22 PM CST


San Antonio Express-News

There's been a subtle — or sometimes not so subtle — shift in the tenor of political rhetoric on immigration in recent weeks.
Xenophobia is back in style.

Among Republican presidential hopefuls, Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo continues to set the pace with a wild-eyed new ad that links illegal immigration to terrorism. It ends with an explosion at a shopping mall.

And most of the Democratic contenders tiptoed gracelessly away from supporting immigration during a debate in Las Vegas on Nov. 15. No more talk of a guest worker program, only border security.

I telephoned Lionel Sosa, the San Antonio-based political marketing legend and trusted adviser to President Bush, to see what he made of all this. He said he saw the changes but wasn't surprised.

"It didn't surprise me after I was in Washington right before the immigration debate. I was in Republican and Democratic members' offices, and both of them were getting 80-to-1 calls toward the anti-immigration position."

Sosa, who helped pioneer political marketing efforts to Hispanic voters, agreed that there had been a shift, driven by shameless fear-mongering like the Tancredo ad.

"I think that the anti-immigration sentiment is increasing. And I think the folks that are promoting fear are hard at work."

I wondered if candidates were seeing something new in polls and focus groups that caused their rhetoric to shift. Sosa said no.

"It's not driven by focus groups; it's driven by the few, the 15 percent of radical conservatives who say this country will be taken over by Mexicans."

Not so long ago, Sosa was planted firmly in the GOP camp. Now he has shifted his support to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat and the only Latino contender in the race.

Bush, Sosa said, "lost the argument in his party."

"He did all he could. He was as brave as any president could possibly be on this issue."

Sizing up the GOP field for 2008, Sosa took a forgiving tack.

"I know that what they're trying to do is get nominated," he said.

He singled out Arizona Sen. John McCain, who recently stopped promoting a guest worker program out loud and said border security needs to come first.

"McCain is a brave one," Sosa said. "He is the truly brave Republican on the immigration issue. He understands it better than anybody. He's modified his stance but hasn't changed it."

Sosa said the heated rhetoric almost always overlooks the real culprits: American employers.

"We Americans invited them by giving them a job," he said. "So we caused the problem."

Sosa, who thinks the solution lies in more work visas, called the idea of building a wall between the United States and Mexico "the most un-American gesture this country could possibly make."

"Why is it that we're not ranting about building a wall between the U.S. and Canada? There is no talk of that. So that leads me to believe that this is a racist thing. It's not a fear of terrorists coming across. It's a fear of Mexicans coming across."

To counter the fear, Sosa's new organization, Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together, is preparing ads offering "messages that can turn public opinion toward tolerance and giving workers a chance."

"Americans are good people," he said. "Americans are tolerant and inclusive people that understand what is good for the country and good for themselves."

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