rssIs the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration?
Wednesday, September 01, 2010 at 5:23 pm
- 31 Comments
This morning, I attended a panel called “Can Conservatism Survive Mass Immigration?” The question posed to the panelists, most of whom were conservatives, is whether Republicans could still perform well with voters — particularly Latinos — with their current rhetoric and policy on immigration. The short answer, according to panelists, was no: Immigrants will likely continue to overwhelmingly gravitate toward Democrats, leaving Republicans in a lose-lose situation for nearly all policy prescriptions.
Panelists mentioned — and quickly dismissed — several Republican pushes for improving immigration policy. While Latino immigrants typically identify as Democrats, the GOP could have a better chance winning over other sets of highly-skilled immigrants, said James Gimpel, a government professor from the University of Maryland.
But the political will to pass visa reform to allow more highly-skilled workers is lacking, other panelists argued. “The reason that we’re never going to get to some kind of high skilled immigrant policy, the civil rights prism that we view immigration policy would make that impossible,” said moderator Mark Krikorian, director of the pro-enforcement Center for Immigration Studies.
The debate over birthright citizenship, most recently spearheaded by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), likely damaged the GOP’s reputation on immigration, said David Frum, editor of FrumForum and a former Bush speechwriter. “Republicans need to send the message that this is not about race,” he said, adding that many white voters could find the rhetoric off-putting as well. “I don’t think you need oversensitive ears to hear a lot of racial coding in the Republican message of the past two years.”
Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor at National Review magazine, said the “pro-legal immigration, anti-illegal immigration” strategy favored by Republicans such as Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio won’t win Republicans any favors among Latino voters. “It amounts to enthusiastically supporting arrival of new Democratic voters while still harassing their friends and neighbors,” he said.
So what should the party do, other than keeping quiet on immigration? Ponnuru said the party could benefit — albeit marginally — from more outreach to black and Latino media outlets, and additional government spending on programs such as English as a second language courses.
It’s a message some members of the Republican Party seem to have received, with candidates such as Meg Whitman in California attempting to woo Latino voters through heavy outreach and opposition to Arizona’s harsh SB 1070 immigration law. The Republican National Committee and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, too, have been careful to veer the debate over birthright citizenship to the less-contentious waters of “birth tourism.”
Still, some panelists argued efforts to win over Latino voters to the GOP could be a losing battle in a nation with growing economic inequality. “In the ideology of conservatism, opportunity is supposed to be the equalizer,” Frum said. “If that opportunity is dwindling, is conservatism even relevant?”
Follow Elise Foley on Twitter31 Comments
Pingback posted September 1, 2010 @ 5:40 pm
[...] Here is the original post: Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Pingback posted September 1, 2010 @ 6:27 pm
[...] Original post: Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Pingback posted September 1, 2010 @ 6:36 pm
[...] View full post on The Washington Independent [...]
Trackback posted September 1, 2010 @ 6:42 pm
Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration?…
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
Pingback posted September 1, 2010 @ 7:01 pm
[...] See the original post here: Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Pingback posted September 1, 2010 @ 8:16 pm
[...] See the original post here: Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Pingback posted September 1, 2010 @ 8:39 pm
[...] this article: Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … Tags: allow-more, civil, high-skilled, immigrant-policy, never-going, other-panelists, panelists, [...]
Pingback posted September 1, 2010 @ 8:42 pm
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Pingback posted September 1, 2010 @ 9:57 pm
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Pingback posted September 1, 2010 @ 10:13 pm
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted September 2, 2010 @ 12:37 am
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington Independent [...]
Comment posted September 2, 2010 @ 12:38 am
So this is for you and all the RACIST mofos.
You swine. You vulgar little maggot. You worthless bag of filth. You couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions printed on the heel.
You are putrescent mess, a walking vomit. You are a spineless little
worm deserving nothing but the profoundest contempt. You are a jerk, a
cad, and a weasel. I take that back; you are a festering pustule on a
weasel's rump. Your life is a monument to stupidity. You are a stench,
a revulsion, a big suck on a sour lemon.
I will never get over the embarrassment of belonging to the same
species as you. You are a monster, a malformition. I barf at
the very thought of you. You have all the appeal of a paper cut.
Lepers avoid you. You are vile, worthless, less than nothing. You are
a weed, a fungus, the dregs of this earth.
And did I mention that you smell?
You are a squeaking rat, a mistake of nature. You were not born. You were hatched into an unwilling world
that rejects the likes of you. You didn't crawl out of a normal egg,
either, but rather a mutant maggot egg rejected by an evil scientist
as being below his low standards. Your alleged parents abandoned you
at birth and then died of shame in recognition of what they had done
to an unsuspecting world. They were a bit late
Comment posted September 2, 2010 @ 1:34 am
The Bush administration did nothing but pander to criminal alien immigrants. Where did it get them ? It goth them obonga.
The best solution is to remove everyone from the Bush administration and put in real conservatives like Paul and Tancredo.
Comment posted September 2, 2010 @ 7:13 am
Still, some panelists argued efforts to win over Latino voters to the GOP could be a losing battle in a nation with growing economic inequality. “In the ideology of conservatism, opportunity is supposed to be the equalizer
Pingback posted September 2, 2010 @ 8:58 am
[...] of the Washington Independent discusses the results of a panel she recently attended “called “Can Conservatism Survive Mass Immigration?” The question posed to the panelists, most of whom were conservatives, is whether Republicans [...]
Pingback posted September 2, 2010 @ 9:34 am
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Pingback posted September 2, 2010 @ 12:03 pm
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? “This morning, I attended a panel called “Can Conservatism Survive Mass Immigration?” The question posed to the panelists, most of whom were conservatives, is whether Republicans could still perform well with voters — particularly Latinos — with their current rhetoric and policy on immigration. The short answer, according to panelists, was no: Immigrants will likely continue to overwhelmingly gravitate toward Democrats, leaving Republicans in a lose-lose situation for nearly all policy prescriptions.” [...]
Comment posted September 2, 2010 @ 11:36 pm
Forget “conservatism,” please. It has been Godless and therefore irrelevant. Secular conservatism will not defeat secular liberalism because to God both are two atheistic peas-in-a-pod and thus predestined to failure. As Stonewall Jackson’s Chief of Staff R.L. Dabney said of such a humanistic belief more than 100 years ago:
“[Secular conservatism] is a party which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today .one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt bath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted? Its impotency is not hard, indeed, to explain. It .is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It intends to risk nothing serious for the sake of the truth.”
Our country is collapsing because we have turned our back on God (Psalm 9:17) and refused to kiss His Son (Psalm 2).
John Lofton, Editor, TheAmericanView.com
Recovering Republican
JLof@aol.com
Pingback posted September 4, 2010 @ 9:45 am
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington Independent [...]
Trackback posted September 5, 2010 @ 7:25 pm
What are some examples that illustrate people making wrong reasonings about different life events? plzzzzz rea?…
I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
Pingback posted September 5, 2010 @ 7:25 pm
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted September 7, 2010 @ 12:17 am
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted September 11, 2010 @ 12:30 am
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Comment posted September 18, 2010 @ 5:18 pm
it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader.
Pingback posted September 21, 2010 @ 12:50 pm
[...] Wrong Tack on Immigration? Posted on September 1, 2010 by elisefoley| Leave a comment From TWI: This morning, I attended a panel called “Can Conservatism Survive Mass Immigration?” The [...]
Pingback posted September 23, 2010 @ 9:09 pm
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Pingback posted September 25, 2010 @ 12:50 am
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington … [...]
Pingback posted September 27, 2010 @ 11:24 am
[...] Is the GOP Taking the Wrong Tack on Immigration? « The Washington Independent [...]
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
