EDITORIAL: How the GOP is Alienating Hispanics
By: iStockAnalyst Saturday, August 02, 2008 2:51 PM
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By Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Aug. 2--Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee plan to spend $20 million on a campaign designed to woo Hispanic voters. They'll focus on "battleground" states, including Florida, Colorado and Arizona. They may or may not get the results they desire -- but, unlike Republicans, at least they'll try.

They're likely to follow a strategy that has worked well for all politicians who have sought minority support. They will identify Hispanics as victims with problems that government supposedly can solve, problems such as economic disparity and poor educational opportunities.

What may frustrate such pandering is the fact that Hispanics aren't victims. They weren't dragged into this country against their will or targeted with laws to keep them in bad schools and at the back of the bus. Quite the contrary, most are the offspring of people who migrated here legally, snuck in to work for better lives, or drifted to our shores as refugees fleeing communist thuggery.

More helpful to Democrats than their $20 million campaign will be the extraordinary stupidity some conservative politicians and pundits have employed in their crusade against unauthorized immigrants. Mixed in with reasonable pleas for more border control are outright dismissals of the need to adjust antiquated quotas that no longer jibe with our country's population base or employment and economic needs. And in those dismissals are familiar lectures about preserving "our culture." We're asked to believe hard-working Hispanic immigrants will ruin us, even if they came here legally through an expanded quota system.

On his syndicated radio program last year, Bill O'Reilly asserted that supporters of an immigration bill wanted to "change the complexion" of the United States. On scores of more amateurish shows, words like "tortilla" and "taco" are tossed out in sermons about preserving culture.

"Give 'em all a little nuclear waste and let 'em take it on down there to Mexico! Tell 'em it'll heat tortillas!" ranted radio host Neal Boortz.

America's 47 million Hispanics, most of whom are citizens or reside here with permission, have varying positions on illegal immigration. But when they hear conservative Republicans sounding alarms about cultural demise -- caused by tortillas and skin color -- they laugh off the GOP. The "illegals" the right maligns are the friends and relatives of millions of conservative, hard-working, God-fearing Hispanic-Americans who vote.

The conservative alienation of Hispanics is new, and it may hand the election to Democrats.

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Story Source: Northwest Florida Daily News
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