Thread: GOP Must Target Hispanic Voters

Washington Insider with Ronald Kessler

GOP Must Target Hispanic Voters

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 10:25 AM

By: Ronald Kessler

With the election behind us, there are many lessons to be learned and facts to be gleaned as Republicans regroup. However, one hard fact stands out among all: The Republican Party must embrace Hispanics and immigration reform or forget about winning back the White House.

It is readily apparent that Republicans are losing Hispanics — the nation’s largest and fastest growing minority group — big time.

A Pew Research Center survey found that after spending much of this decade loosening their ties to the Democrats, Hispanics began a dramatic swing back during the debate over immigration reform.

Republicans who opposed legislation to allow illegal aliens to eventually gain citizenship came across as hostile to Hispanics. The Pew survey found that most Hispanics now view the Democratic Party as the one showing more concern for them and doing a better job on the issue of illegal immigration.

The irony is that by opposing the Bush reform legislation, Republicans in effect gave illegal aliens blanket amnesty, because no action is being taken to deal with them.

The trend away from the Republican Party began showing up in the 2006 congressional election. The lesson of that election was that “anti-immigrant rhetoric and votes in favor of walling off the Southern border did not win votes for Republicans,â€

Norquist, a pre-eminent leader of the conservative movement?

What?

Grover Norquist is one of the behind the scenes architects of this invasion!

W

In the future, that percentage will grow. Because Hispanics have a higher birth rate and a greater immigration rate than the rest of the population,

Isn't this what's called a self fulfilling prophecy? The government pays Hispanics to have a higher birthrate and allows them a greater immigration rate. In effect our politicians are electing themselves a different constituency, one that is easier to satisfy and mislead.

Originally Posted by Bowman

In the future, that percentage will grow. Because Hispanics have a higher birth rate and a greater immigration rate than the rest of the population,

Isn't this what's called a self fulfilling prophecy? The government pays Hispanics to have a higher birthrate and allows them a greater immigration rate. In effect our politicians are electing themselves a different constituency, one that is easier to satisfy and mislead.

That's an interesting perspective Bowman for which I believe your on to something! Seems as if this is already happening here in CA!

I agree that the GOP would be wise to target Hispanic voters - American Hispanics who can vote legally.

I won't hold my breath on this one, but if the GOP invited people like Lupe Moreno, Rosanna Pulido, Al Garza and Col. Al Rodriguez to address GOP groups in general, and Hispanic GOP gatherings in particular, it would help clarify that a significant percentage of American Hispanics are against the illegal invasion.

People like Kessler have learned nothing from the "One Time Only" Amnesty of 1986, that legalized the status of about three million illegals. Amnesties guarantee future waves of illegal aliens, who see that once they get here, they have an excellent chance of staying.

If the current 20-30 million? illegals in the country receive Amnesty, a few years down the road, we'll hear the cry from both major parties, for a new round of "comprehensive immigration reform" for the 50 million + illegals who'll be here after the latest Shamnesty.

This analysis is flawed, and Norquist's views on this topic are well known. The GOP has lost recently not because of any opposition to amnesty, but for a host of other reasons including of course the financial meltdown (e.g., Elizabeth Dole was leading Hagan in the polls until the meltdown hit in September). And most Latinos didn't even list immigration matters as one of the top concerns. Finally, even if McCain had win the 40% of the Hispanic vote that Bush did in 2004, it wouldn't have changed anything.

See this in-depth analysis rather than the above short puff piece by Kessler:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-138515.html

The irony is that by opposing the Bush reform legislation, Republicans in effect gave illegal aliens blanket amnesty, because no action is being taken to deal with them

Another flaw in Kessler's analysis. What relatively little enforcement that the Bush administration has done over the past year has had an effect on reducing the number of illegal immigrants, along with a souring economy. The problem of "blanket amnesty" has occured because the govt has refused to enforce the law after the 1986 amnesty. So the problem is no enforcement, not because many Republicans opposed Bush's "reform legislation" (amnesty). That's silly and Kessler should know better.

I have a different view on this rather then "target" certain groups the GOP needs to focus on the American worker,taxpayer,citizen regardless of race, color or gender, too long all of our leaders have pandered to various groups in this country and around the world while disregarding middle class workers with outsourcing,loss of manufacturing, huge gifts of money spread around the world via nation building.

Simply we cannot tolerate hyphenated Americans any longer if your here legal then your an American and should be addressed as such.

Originally Posted by oldguy

I have a different view on this rather then "target" certain groups the GOP needs to focus on the American worker,taxpayer,citizen regardless of race, color or gender, too long all of our leaders have pandered to various groups in this country and around the world while disregarding middle class workers with outsourcing,loss of manufacturing, huge gifts of money spread around the world via nation building.

Simply we cannot tolerate hyphenated Americans any longer if your here legal then your an American and should be addressed as such.

Point well taken, oldguy, but there is a full-court press on by the MSM, and the Establishment types in both of the major parties, to convince Americans in general, and Hispanics in particular, that if you're against the illegal invasion, you're against Hispanics.

The welcome mat can be put out to various groups without pandering to them, IMO. The reality of politics dictates that concerted disinformation campaigns have to be countered. Hispanics do have higher birth rates than the population in general, largely because of Catholicism. If the perception that the New World Order crowd is trying to instill, that being anti-illegal equates to anti-Hispanic, isn't countered through outreach, we will lose the battle for our sovereignty.

[quote]As Norquist tells me, “Being seen as mean is not an option.â€