Well, Boo Hoo
Yesterday, I complained about Democrats who were more concerned about their own political future than the country's best interests (here). Today, I discovered that the Republicans have a similar problem. From today's Los Angeles Times:
The roiling congressional debate over a plan to legalize undocumented immigrants has rekindled a bitter fight in the Republican Party over the best strategy to restore the GOP to political dominance — with each side accusing the other of following a course that would destroy the party for decades. ...
At issue are not just different approaches to immigration but competing visions for how to rebuild and maintain a base of loyal Republican voters.
Many Republican strategists and Bush allies blame election defeats last year in part on the loss of Latino voters after a flurry of anti-illegal immigration ads that strategists say exploited ethnic stereotypes. They say Republicans cannot hope to win a national majority without substantial support from the fast-growing Latino voting bloc.
"I believe that not to play this card right would be the destruction of our party," said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), the Cuban-born general chairman of the Republican National Committee, who helped write Senate legislation creating a path to citizenship for most of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. "Hispanics make up about 13% of our country and by 2020 will be closer to 20%. It is a demographic trend that one cannot overlook."
...conservatives and many opinion leaders argue that backing the immigration bill is a dangerous course because it angers the GOP's mostly white base, as well as swing voters open to the message of national security and law enforcement.
Some argue that new citizens may be more likely to vote Democratic, so strategically it makes little sense to increase their numbers. ... [Emphasis added]
So, there you have it. It's all about elections, not the future of 12 million people here and working hard under the most difficult of circumstances. It's not about finding a way to get our crops picked and processed before they rot, it's about a way to keep the Democrats from getting new voters. It's not even about homeland security and viable borders, it's about long term political power.
And at the very core of the dispute, lies a nasty fact: the "GOP's mostly white base" has to be kept happy and secure in their racism.
Feh!
A pox on both their houses.
The roiling congressional debate over a plan to legalize undocumented immigrants has rekindled a bitter fight in the Republican Party over the best strategy to restore the GOP to political dominance — with each side accusing the other of following a course that would destroy the party for decades. ...
At issue are not just different approaches to immigration but competing visions for how to rebuild and maintain a base of loyal Republican voters.
Many Republican strategists and Bush allies blame election defeats last year in part on the loss of Latino voters after a flurry of anti-illegal immigration ads that strategists say exploited ethnic stereotypes. They say Republicans cannot hope to win a national majority without substantial support from the fast-growing Latino voting bloc.
"I believe that not to play this card right would be the destruction of our party," said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), the Cuban-born general chairman of the Republican National Committee, who helped write Senate legislation creating a path to citizenship for most of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. "Hispanics make up about 13% of our country and by 2020 will be closer to 20%. It is a demographic trend that one cannot overlook."
...conservatives and many opinion leaders argue that backing the immigration bill is a dangerous course because it angers the GOP's mostly white base, as well as swing voters open to the message of national security and law enforcement.
Some argue that new citizens may be more likely to vote Democratic, so strategically it makes little sense to increase their numbers. ... [Emphasis added]
So, there you have it. It's all about elections, not the future of 12 million people here and working hard under the most difficult of circumstances. It's not about finding a way to get our crops picked and processed before they rot, it's about a way to keep the Democrats from getting new voters. It's not even about homeland security and viable borders, it's about long term political power.
And at the very core of the dispute, lies a nasty fact: the "GOP's mostly white base" has to be kept happy and secure in their racism.
Feh!
A pox on both their houses.
Labels: Immigration, Racism
posted by Diane at 4:35 AM
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