Thread: Immigration Not A Major Issue For Latinos: Good News For GOP

Immigration Not A Major Issue For Latinos: Good News For GOP

By Sean Higgins
The Investor Business Daily, August 25, 2006

http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDA ... e=20060825

A year of controversy over the immigration issue has had scant impact on the Hispanic vote, a new Democratic survey has found.

Voter loyalties among that group remain frozen where they were last election, with Hispanics tending Democratic about 2-to-1.

If anything, Democrats may have a problem turning out Hispanics to vote in an off-year election.

That's according to a poll of 984 Hispanic likely voters by Democracy Corps, a group run by former Bill Clinton strategist James Carville and pollster Stanley Greenberg.

'Hispanics' . . . support for Democratic congressional candidates has remained unchanged from last year, while interest in this election is substantially lower than in 2004,' according to a summary of the survey.

That tracks with the findings of other liberal groups.

'Our polls show the same thing,' said Joe Garcia, director of the Hispanic Strategy Center for NDN, formerly the New Democrat Network.

The lack of any significant shift comes even though immigration reform has been a hotly debated issue in Congress since the last election. Earlier this year, the House passed a tough border-control-only immigration bill.

The Senate passed a bill that increases border security but also creates a guest worker program and opens a path for immigrants to gain citizenship. President Bush supports a similar approach.

The House has balked at the Senate's approach, arguing it amounts to amnesty. The legislation has been stalled for months, and few expect Congress to complete any bill this year.

The inability to pass an immigration bill — and the criticism of mass Hispanic immigration by some, especially House Republicans — was thought to hurt the GOP and boost Democrats.

Instead, liberal groups have found the debate only marginally benefited Democrats and that Hispanics rate other bread-and-butter issues like jobs, the economy and the war on terror much higher.

'Immigration ranks low on the list of priorities for Hispanics, with only 19% saying it is the first or second most important issue determining their vote for Congress,' the survey found.

Some Favor Get-Tough Policies

Nor are likely Hispanic voters necessarily prone to favoring generous policies toward immigrants. The survey found 34% opposing illegals getting any benefits if they have not paid taxes.

'Hispanic voters are critical of those immigrants that do not play by the rules, and take advantage of the system,' the survey found.

Stacy Paxton, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee said the survey seemed about right. Democrats have 'room to grow' in winning the Hispanic vote.

The survey's results didn't surprise GOP activists either. Most argue immigration is a red herring when it comes to winning over Hispanics.

For one thing, Hispanic is a broad, catch-all term for a variety of ethnic groups that lumps in recent immigrants with people who have lived in the U.S. for generations, said Richard Nadler, president of America's Majority, a conservative group involved in Hispanic outreach.

'The voting Latinos are the ones who are the ones who are the most assimilated,' Nadler said. Recent immigrants, especially illegals, vote in far smaller numbers.

Broadly speaking, Hispanics lean strongly Democratic.

The Democracy Corps poll finds them favoring Democrats over Republicans by 62%-29%. A 2004 Pew Hispanic Center survey found the same ratio.

But Hispanics are more open to GOP appeals than some other ethnic minorities, especially socially conservative ones.

A Republican operative with close ties to the White House said the party is bypassing immigration for now and will instead court Hispanics through 'values issues' such as abortion and gay marriage.

The Carville-Greenberg survey expresses particular concern that those issues may cause erosion in Hispanic Democratic support.

'While more than one-third of Democrats have warm feelings toward gay marriage, less than a quarter of Hispanics support it,' the survey noted.

War, Bush Unpopular

Other issues could hurt the Republicans among Hispanics this fall. The survey found that 6 in 10 Hispanics would like to see a reduction of troops in Iraq, though they reject 'cut and run' proposals.

Bush is increasingly unpopular among Hispanics, just as he is with voters overall. Last year 43% had warm feelings for the president, now just 31% do.

A representative of Democracy Corps itself could not be reached for comment.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Democracy Corps poll is available on line at
http://www.democracycorps.com/reports/s ... Survey.pdf

That's because most of the LEGAL Hispanic voters are not aligned with the law breaking illegal aliens you idiots! Get it through your heads! Damn race baiting politicians.

W

added to the homepage

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... e&sid=1466

The inability to pass an immigration bill — and the criticism of mass Hispanic immigration by some, especially House Republicans — was thought to hurt the GOP and boost Democrats.

If the House was smart, they would listen to the American people and do the right thing. Has any one of them given a thought to the support they would gain if they actually listened to the American people and supported them instead of their own private political agendas? I doubt it.

'The voting Latinos are the ones who are the ones who are the most assimilated,' Nadler said. Recent immigrants, especially illegals, vote in far smaller numbers.

This must be a mistake, because NO illegals should be voting!