GOP strategists worry about future of Hispanic vote

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: Gannett News Service

As jubilant Republicans prepare to take control of the U.S. House and increase their clout in the U.S. Senate next month, some GOP political consultants are urging them not to ignore the lessons of their biggest failure: California.
While Republicans swept into congressional offices and governors' mansions across the nation, the Golden State elected two liberal Democrats to their top statewide offices, returning U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer to the Senate and electing Attorney General Jerry Brown governor despite early predictions that Republicans would win both seats.
Those results, GOP strategists say, can be tied directly to the alienation of Hispanic voters turned off by years of tough rhetoric on immigration by California Republicans. And unless Republicans in Washington heed the warning and tone down the way they debate immigration policy, this year's GOP successes could be short-lived, strategists say.
"I really think that California serves as a very important case study in what happens when Republicans alienate Latinos with aggressive rhetoric," said Adam Mendelsohn, a Republican strategist and former deputy chief of staff for Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "We lost every statewide election because we lost Latino voters. We are now getting larger and larger Latino populations outside the West in states like Iowa and North Carolina and Louisiana. And Republicans have to be aware of the cost of harsh rhetoric."


Read more: http://www.rgj.com/article/20101220/NEWS/12200318/1321/GOP-strategists-worry-about-future-of-Hispanic-vote

[CreekDog]

1. Little late for that!

:rofl:

[sinkingfeeling]

2. My thought exactly.

[KansDem]

3. Hey, you think bashing "illegal immigrants" while employing same might cause some consternation...

...among Latino voters?

Huh? You think so, Repubs? Ever thought about that?

No? I'm not surprised...

[rocktivity]

4. Candidate for this Year's "You Call This NEWS?" Award

To paraphrase Aerosmith, Dream (Act) on, GOP!


rocktivity

[SpiralHawk]

5. Hate and discrimination are sure ways to continue your Republicon FAIL

Not that my brilliant insight will make a dent in Republicon Know Nothingism.

[sadbear]

6. Texas will be majority HIspanic very soon

And after the Dream Act vote, they won't be voting republican anytime soon.

[nyy1998]

7. I've been saying this for awhile now, I think Texas will go blue in 10 years.

[social_critic]

8. Hard to tell, Texas is heavily gerrymandered

And many Hispanics can't vote.

[nyy1998]

12. True, but even the legal Hispanic community is growing large enough to make Texas blue

It doesn't mean the Democrats will make up a majority of congressional seats right away but I think they'll start voting for Dems statewide soon.

[tblue37]

10. The funny thing is that many Hispanics are socially conservative, so they could easily

have leaned R, if the Republicans had not bashed them so much.

[DainBramaged]

9. A little too late for those boys to be swapping Taco recipes....

fucking Pukes have a special anti-Brown skin radar that makes them spew shit when their field of hate is breached...

[AspenRose]

11. As well they should.