GOP Event Dodges Immigration Fight
POLITICO
GOP event dodges immigration fight
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Jeb Bush spoke Friday at a conference of Hispanic Republicans but did not mention immigration in his opening remarks. | AP Photo
By CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN
1/14/11 7:52 PM EST
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The goal of a conference of Hispanic Republicans here was to show that the party wants to broaden its reach into the fastest-growing population of voters.
It did just as much to underscore the GOP’s challenge.
The Republicans who gathered at the posh Biltmore Hotel for the newly formed Hispanic Leadership Network generally support a broad reform of the immigration system, one that includes some means for legalizing the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants. The organizers included former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez – two leading Republican voices for a comprehensive immigration overhaul.
But they are not part of the dominant wing in the Republican Party, which has embraced an enforcement-first, no-legalization-under-any-circumstances position in recent years – a shift that the conference organizers say has hampered the party’s outreach to Hispanics.
Yet there was little direct challenge to the party’s rightward drift on immigration.
None of the organizers – Bush, Gutierrez and former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) – made a direct mention of immigration in their opening remarks. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty relegated the issue to the end of a more than 20-minute speech.
A bold-faced lineup of Republican officials – former President George W. Bush, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Jon Kyl, Newt Gingrich – addressed the conference through video statements. But none discussed immigration. Instead, they focused on their support of limited government, small business, and family values.
The conference wasn’t silent on the question of immigration, and included a panel focused on party’s approach to immigration reform and one on messaging to the Hispanic community, which included talk of how the party would address the topic.
But when immigration was addressed directly, the speakers were divided on whether the party’s struggle to draw more Hispanic voters was one of tone or substance.
“We do have a challenge on the Hispanic vote,â€
