Thread: Jeb Bush guides Republican outreach to Latinos

Here we go... Please crawl back underneath your rock Jeb... we don't need any more "bushes" In the current political landscape Posted: Jan 13, 2011 7:06 AM PST
Updated: Jan 13, 2011 5:27 PM PST
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer
MIAMI (AP) - A Republican group that includes former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday night kicked off its efforts to improve the party's outreach to Hispanic voters, many of whom have criticized Republicans for using harsh rhetoric to attack illegal immigration.

The new Hispanic Action Network is holding a policy conference featuring several well-known Republican speakers. It will focus on issues such as trade, immigration, media outreach and education.

Bush, who met his Mexican-born wife Columba when he taught English in her homeland, said the party needs to become more engaged in the Hispanic community - and not just during election years.

"Typically what happens in politics is you're working hard and you say, 'Oh gosh, we better start working at campaigning in the Hispanic community,' and it's like Sept. 15," he told the crowd Thursday night. "This is not about politics. This is about the conservative cause. If you look over the horizon over the next 10 or 20 years...without an active involvement of Hispanics, we will not be the governing philosophy."

The group is among a growing number of Republican organizations reaching out to Hispanics in advance of next year's presidential election. It is backed by former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, whose American Action Network funneled more than $30 million in campaign funds to Republicans in about 30 congressional races last year.

With the Latino population growing in swing states such as Nevada, Colorado and Florida, Republicans need to chip away at Hispanics' overall 2-1 preference for Democrats to have any hope of capturing the presidency.

Democrats are confident their party's efforts on health care, education and the economy will appeal to Hispanic voters, whom they believe have been turned off by some of the GOP tactics.

But Bush and other Republicans have long maintained their party is a natural fit for Hispanics, particularly recent immigrants. They cite the party's social conservatism, anti-abortion stance and support for private school vouchers and lower taxes. Voters last year elected Latino Republicans to prominent posts, including Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a possible 2010 presidential candidate, announced a similar effort in Washington, D.C., last month with his Americanos group. The conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, also now has a Spanish Web site, Libertad.org. Meanwhile, Alfonso Aguilar, former President George W. Bush's first citizenship and immigration czar, now runs the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles.

The former president, who is Jeb Bush's brother, had a stronger and more successful Hispanic outreach program than almost any other national Republican.

Jeb Bush told The Associated Press "the more the merrier" as far as outreach programs go. Unlike Gingrich, he says, he has ruled out running for president in 2012.

As for potential Republican candidates for president in 2012, only former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is scheduled to speak at the conference.

But Republican groups have their work cut out for them following an election year in which Republican Senate candidate Sharon Angle of Nevada ran ads portraying illegal immigrants as thuggish gang members, and Hispanic voters overwhelmingly sided with Sen. Michael Bennet against Republican Ken Buck, a former county prosecutor who had tried to deport more illegal immigrants by seizing income-tax returns from accountants that catered to Spanish speakers. The plan was later thrown out by a court.

The House Republican leadership took a symbolic step toward bridging the gap with Latinos last week in bypassing Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa as the next chairman of the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on immigration. King once suggested on the House floor that an electrified border fence would stop illegal immigrants, likening it to the practice used to corral livestock.

"Obviously there was a message sent with Steve King not being selected for chair," said Aguilar, who is attending the conference. "But now the question is beyond ending harsh rhetoric: Will they actively propose a conservative proposal that goes beyond border control and domestic enforcement to a temporary work status?"

As president, George W. Bush unsuccessfully pushed for sweeping immigration reform. But so far, the only new Republican proposal on immigration has come from a group of state lawmakers who are hoping for a Supreme Court ruling that would end the granting of automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.

Simon Rosenberg, head of the liberal-leaning NDN organization, applauded the efforts of Republicans such as Jeb Bush to reach Latinos.

"It would be bad for the Latino community to only have one political party working with them," he said.

But Rosenberg questioned the notion that Hispanics have more in common with conservatives than Democrats, noting that many Hispanics lack health insurance and will benefit from the Democrats' recent health care overhaul.

He said the GOP needs more than improved outreach.

"There is a reactionary strain in the Republican Party that is angry about how the country is changing," he added, referring to the effects of immigration. "We are moving toward a majority nonwhite country. That is very difficult for some people to accept. And those people tend to be more Republican."

Bush and Gingrich support comprehensive immigration reform, but GOP leadership must still satisfy those who want to focus only on border security, including Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who has backed legislation modeled on Arizona's law. That law requires immigrants to carry papers proving they are in the country legally and police officers to check the status of anyone they believe is in the country illegally. A judge has placed those provisions on hold pending hearings on their constitutionality.

Scott was among the keynote speakers Thursday night at the conference in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables. Others speakers for the event include the co-chair, former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, as well as Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuno, former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Texas Sen. John Cornyn.

Coleman said he's proud of the diverse perspectives the conference will offer and hopes it leads to serious debate.

"So much of immigration is about tone," he said. Coleman added that Florida's Rubio and New Mexico's Martinez talk about immigration and border security "but in a tone that is helpful and respectful."

But neither Rubio nor Martinez will be at the conference, nor will newly elected Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, another Hispanic GOP star. Coleman said both Sandoval and Martinez have just begun their jobs and couldn't get away. A spokesman for Rubio said the senator would be working on official business outside of South Florida but declined to provide details.

Associated Press writer Suzanne Gamboa contributed to this report from Washington. AP writer Kristen Wyatt contributed from Denver.

http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13836837

"It would be bad for the Latino community to only have one political party working with them,"

How about having both political parties working for the American people's best interests, no matter their color?

GLOBALIST NEO~CON buh by Crack Head; and No we dont want or need you in the Florida Senate; we are screwed enough as it is

Pawlenty among speakers at Hispanic conser
BY PATRICIA MAZZEI
pmazzei@MiamiHerald.com
A potential 2012 presidential contender and other politicians eager to appeal to Hispanic voters will gather in Coral Gables beginning Thursday evening, convened by former Gov. Jeb Bush to build on the Republican Party's recent success with the nation's fastest-growing minority group.

The newly founded Hispanic Leadership Network, an arm of the conservative American Action Network and the American Action Forum, will host a conference Thursday and Friday at the Biltmore Hotel featuring panelists ranging from former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a possible aspirant to the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
Other top Republican candidates for the White House reportedly turned down invitations to the conference, which some political observers interpreted as a troubling sign if the GOP is to woo a growing constituency of Hispanic voters to try to unseat President Barack Obama.

The conference has not billed itself as a presidential forum but as a discussion on reaching out to the diverse Hispanic community. Yet it has drawn national attention, being held in the nation's largest battleground state and co-hosted by Bush, a fluent Spanish speaker and, as one of Florida's most popular political figures, a frequently mentioned candidate for higher office.

``As we look ahead to a new year brimming with excitement and possibility, we cannot simply rest on the success of 2010; the conservative movement must commit to a long-term outreach strategy to ensure our strategy is being heard,'' Bush wrote in a Sunday Op-Ed in The Miami Herald.

Republicans celebrated key statewide wins in November in states with large Hispanic populations, with victories by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval. In Florida, Republicans got a majority of the Hispanic vote after losing it in 2008 and 2006.

But Hispanics also helped reelect two senators -- Barbara Boxer in California and Harry Reid in Nevada -- who helped the Democratic Party retain control of the U.S. Senate. And according to national exit polls of U.S. House races, Democrats held a two-to-one advantage over Republicans among Hispanic voters.

``[C]enter-right candidates have failed to win more than 40 percent of the Hispanic vote nationally since 2004,'' Bush wrote in his Op-Ed, calling conservative support among Hispanic voters nationally ``unacceptably low.''

Still, the GOP saw signs of hope with wins by Rubio and by Florida Gov. Rick Scott, both of whom attracted Hispanic voters despite tough stances on immigration. Rubio opposed the DREAM Act, which would have granted legal status to certain undocumented students who attend college or serve in the military.

Scott pledged to support an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration in Florida, though he toned down the rhetoric after the Republican primary. State legislative leaders have recently raised doubts about whether such a bill would go anywhere in Tallahassee.

Rubio will not attend the Hispanic Leadership Network, though he sent a videotaped message that will be played Friday. Scott is scheduled to address the conference at 6 p.m. Thursday. Pawlenty will deliver remarks at noon Friday, when conference attendees will engage in panel discussions on jobs, immigration, media and education.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/13/2 ... 8vrvatives conference[/b]

Seriously.. someone / any state / any country take this worthless piece of SHIT off of Florida's hands

Between him and Charlie Christ, Florida is about as screwed as it can get

Sounds like the Americans need to show up with DEPORT 30 MILLION signs just especially for Newt & Jeb.

It's quite obvious that the oligarchy that controls the Republican party is laying the foundation necessary to nominate a Presidential candidate that supports amnesty. This candidate will claim to be against amnesty while supporting legalization. It could be the clown Sara Palin? Or possibily Jeb Bush? But they haven't learned anything. Any Republican clown who supports any type of legalization will lose. And wouldn't you think that the oligarchy would know that by now? So why are they trying to ram this down our throats again? What do you think?

Originally Posted by Justthatguy

It's quite obvious that the oligarchy that controls the Republican party is laying the foundation necessary to nominate a Presidential candidate that supports amnesty. This candidate will claim to be against amnesty while supporting legalization. It could be the clown Sara Palin? Or possibily Jeb Bush? But they haven't learned anything. Any Republican clown who supports any type of legalization will lose. And wouldn't you think that the oligarchy would know that by now? So why are they trying to ram this down our throats again? What do you think?

You can add to that list, Huckabee and Romney.

Rick Scott and the State Legisture Repubs won office on the promise to crack down on IA's so they best keep those promises.

i heard that racist Luis Guiterrez was at this meeting also