The GOP's Hispanic Dilemma

Even as the Tea Party base of the Republican Party continues to do all it can to denigrate - and alienate - Hispanic voters, the reality is that the GOP is moving closer and closer to a form of political suicide if something isn't done to end the current trajectory.  Not that this reality seems to register whatsoever with the Christofascists/Tea Party extremists.  A piece in Salon looks at the growing dilemma that someone in the GOP needs to solve.  Here are excerpts:

Last year, in a rare moment of political lucidity, Republicans gave themselves good advice on appealing to Latino voters. “If Hispanic Americans hear that the GOP doesn’t want them in the United States, they won’t pay attention to our next sentence … they will close their ears to our policies,” wrote the Republican National Committee in its Growth and Opportunity Project report. “[O]ur Party’s position on immigration has become a litmus test,” it continued, “measuring whether we are meeting them with a welcome mat or a closed door.” Republicans had to solve the immigration problem in order to move forward.

Almost immediately, however, the party’s right-wing base reasserted itself. House Republicans railed against the measure, rejecting the path to citizenship and demanding more funding for security at the border. . . . . By the end of the year, reform was nearly dead, with tough, if any, odds for progress.

In other words, Republicans knew what they had to do to make an appeal to Latino voters. But rather than follow their own prescription and embrace a new approach, they splurged on their old habits, binging on anti-immigrant rhetoric and indulging their worst nativist instincts. Indeed, the past few months have seen Republicans come unhinged at the mass arrival of child migrants and refugees from central America, with warnings of disease and mayhem.

The Republican Party’s original analysis was correct. After the RNC released its report, Latino Decisions published a poll on Hispanics, immigration reform, and the GOP. Among all Hispanics, 32 percent were more likely to vote Republican in the future if comprehensive immigration reform passed. What’s more, a later Latino Decisions poll—this time of Latino registered voters—found that 61 percent would be more likely to listen to Republicans on issues like taxes or school choice if the party supported reform.

Put another way, it’s no accident that only 12 percent of Hispanics associated the phrase “cares about people like you” with the Republican Party,  . . . 

[T]he GOP’s predicament. It wants a larger portion of the Latino vote—lest it be crippled in future national elections—but it doesn’t want to pass immigration reform, lest it alienate core supporters. But there are no shortcuts to building respect and goodwill. If Republicans want more than a rump share of Latino voters, they’ll need to shift on immigration reform. Otherwise, they should expect Latinos to meet them with a “closed door.”