In the wake of this week’s election, Republicans have decided that they weren’t paying enough attention to Hispanic voters, and now they’re going to change all that. In his editorial “The Way Forward,” far-right columnist Charles Krauthammer writes: “The principal reason [Latinos] go Democratic is the issue of illegal immigrants.” A few paragraphs later he proposes that, by moving immigration reform ahead and advancing Latino candidates, Republicans can “counter [Democratic appeal] in one stroke by fixing the Latino problem.”
This is a simplistic if not paternalistic view, similar to the one Republicans have about Jews who, in their minds, are supposedly devoted to a single issue: Israel. But the recent election proved to be a wake-up call for Republican (and Israeli Likud supporter) Sheldon Adelson who put hundreds of millions of dollars into uber-Zionist candidates, seeing practically every one of them lose. Meanwhile, JStreet’s PAC provided political money and cover for more moderate, less Likud-oriented, Middle East policies – and all 49 of their candidates won. In Florida, where Adelson and the Republican Jewish Caucus and others attacked President Obama on Israel, the strategy actually backfired. 27% of Florida Jews said the ads made them more likely to vote for the President.
So if Republicans plan to use the same strategy on Hispanic voters, they may be in for a wild ride.
I will leave it to Latinos to speak for themselves, but I’m guessing that years of discrimination, working for social justice, and caring for one another are not unique to any one minority group in this nation, and no matter how much Spanish is heard at the next Republican convention, Latinos will remember who their friends have been. And let’s not forget that the Republicans have had their Herman Cains, Allen Wests and Mia Loves, but a sprinkling of Black faces has not and will not alter a party unwilling to part with its extremist values. Krauthammer says as much: “Ignore the trimmers. There’s no need for radical change… Do not […] abandon the party’s philosophical anchor” – an anchor that promises only: I got mine; you’re on your own.
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