Ever wonder why some people would drive away a voting bloc of 50 million pro-life, pro-family, pro-business and Christian voters based on the potential that their numbers may harbor anywhere from 8-20 million people whose only crime in wanting a better life for themselves was that they came to America to do it?
Yeah… me neither.
Notwithstanding my ongoing contest between PWC Chairman Corey Stewart regarding the ill-effects of his “rule of law” ordinance, Thomas Schaller has a great post on why angering the Hispanic community with ill thought out and knee jerk legislation probably isn’t the greatest of ideas:
The ongoing controversies about the level of GOP support among Latinos, and its importance for Republican competitiveness, took on new significance after 2004 when disputes arose as to whether Bush actually received 44 percent of Latino votes. If we set aside these methodological disputes, the ultimate question is how competitive the GOP must be among Latinos. And the answer to that question is three-fold.
To be abundantly clear, my position against the “probable cause” ordinance in Prince William County nothing to do with political demography. Nevertheless, there is absolutely no reason we should be driving away pro-life, pro-business, pro-family voters away from the Republican Party because they might happen to harbor illegal immigrants as well.
Surprisingly, the Hispanic community (like most immigrant communities) want a strengthening of our legal immigration laws, or at the very least a reformation of the entire process. Few Hispanics believe in “open border” policies, and fewer still want amnesty. Like many, they too want a constitutional process enforced by federal laws that have teeth.
So why do the vigilantes and nativists want something… more? Ask them, but don’t expect the 50 million Hispanic voters to wait long for an answer as to whether or not the GOP truly embraces minorities. There’s another party out there willing to cast the GOP as something it’s not.