While the GOP continues searching its soul for
reasons why they lost in 2012, they are beginning to realize that If the
GOP ignores Hispanic views on issues and
continues expressing hostile attitudes toward Hispanics, the party will continue its march toward
minority party status like lemmings trekking to the sea.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal of Asian descent commented to the Republican National Committee last
month regarding the GOP attitude to people of color . ”The
first step in getting the voters to like you is to demonstrate that you like
them.”, he said.
How
to get Hispanics to like them is a major challenge for the GOP.. A December 2011 survey, conducted by Latino Decisions found forty-six percent of
Latino voters said Republicans "don't care too much" about Hispanics,
and another 27 percent said they "are being hostile,". It should have been no
surprise that 71% of the Latino vote went to Obama in 2012, a major factor in Obama’s
victory.. With growth of the
Hispanic population projected to be able to swing Texas elections by 2018, that state
could turn blue soon, duplicating the
2012 results in Florida, Nevada,
Colorado, and New Mexico. .
Those Republicans who understood that have joined Democrats in the US senate to
propose a comprehensive immigration bill.
Those who have not, especially in
the House, are still old school… objecting
to the clause giving Hispanics a path to citizenship they call “amnesty”.
In Colorado, 75% of Hispanics voted for Obama in 2012 (up from
61% in 2008). The
percentage of Hispanic vote in the state had increased from 13% in 2008 to 14% in 2012. Heavily Democratic leaning Hispanics helped
swing the state blue in the Senate,
Presidential, state legislature and governor’s races over the last four years. Why did Hispanics in Colorado vote even more
strongly for Obama in 2012 than they did
in the national average and even in past years?
Motivation was
often the GOP messaging itself….both at the national level and especially at the state level.
Mitt
Romney
added to the alienation. His policy to solve the 11 million undocumented
workers in the US was “self deportation”, with an interpretation held by Hispanics s GOP government would
make conditions so tough, the
undocumented would want to return to Mexico. When he
said he would overturn President’s executive order which helped Dreamers stay
in the US, get a job, and go to college
without getting deported, he hit an even rawer nerve. (Dreamers are hoping to
be college students, undocumented , brought as children to the US , who have
graduated from US high schools).
The GOP also misread the polls when they concluded Latinos cared more about education,
health care, economy and jobs than
immigration, but they falsely assumed
that meant conservative solutions
would also appeal to
them. Exit polls showed the opposite; Hispanics
liked Democratic approaches on those issue
more than the Republican positions.
Even conservative social values did not move Hispanics to the GOP. 73% of Catholic Hispanics and 82% non
religious Hispanics voted for Obama.
Immigration
policies and education issues intersected in the Dream Act controversy, too.,
influencing polling outcome on both of
those issues. Many Colorado Hispanics
who can vote have
relatives who are Dreamers and/ or they
noted the acidic tone of Republicans in opposing the Dream Act in the state legislature
and on the campaign trail. Particularly irksome to Hispanics was the unity
of GOP Colorado legislators against
giving Dreamers in state tuition
or even reduced out of state tuition. Now
that Democrats control of both houses of the state
legislature, a bill allowing Dreamers to be charged in state college tuition has an excellent
chance of passage. Many Colorado Republican
legislators must have missed Jindal’s
memo as they continue their
vehement opposition.
The above is a version of my column that appeared in the Sky Hi Daily News today
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20121111-hispanic-population-boom-will-reshape-texas-politics-but-question-is-when.ece
Also posted today, an excellent piece by Colorado pollster Floyd Ciruli on public opinions of immigration reform:
http://fciruli.blogspot.com/2013/02/immigration-reform-has-chance.html
Also posted today, an excellent piece by Colorado pollster Floyd Ciruli on public opinions of immigration reform:
http://fciruli.blogspot.com/2013/02/immigration-reform-has-chance.html
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