Posted by
John Caile on Friday, July 10, 2009 2:37:46 PM
Instead of fighting tooth and nail against a racist, sexist, anti-gun judicial pirate like Sonia Sotomayor (and that is exactly what she is), you can pretty much count on the usual suspects in the Republican party to chicken out, in a futile attempt to curry favor with the Hispanic community. And they will do this in spite of the fact that Democrats can be counted on to do everything possible to sabotage ANY court appointment by a Republican president, starting with their vicious attack on Robert Bork.
Ironically, Republicans, or more accurately, Conservative Republicans, have a marvelous opportunity to make inroads into what should be a natural constituency - new immigrants. Wait a minute! Aren't all "people of color" presumed to be helpless sheep who will blindly vote for any Democrat who promises them a feeding spot at the government trough?
Well, not exactly. The truth is, many immigrant groups, Hispanics included, have far more in common with Conservatives than they do with Liberals. Unlike the 2nd and 3rd generation of American born welfare-dependent families that have become virtual captives of the welfare state, most immigrants still come here for opportunity, not hand-outs. They are willing to work.
Even on the so-called social issues, Mexican-Americans in particular hold far more conservative views than is generally appreciated. Note that in ultra-liberal California, Hispanics voted overwhelmingly (77%) in support of traditional marriage. Ditto on abortion - Hispanics are predominantly Catholic, and fundamentally very pro-life, by a wide margin.
Another hallmark of the Mexican culture is an admirable pride in being self-sufficient, and taking care of their families - this is especially true of Mexican men, who are willing to bus tables in a restaurant for minimum wage rather than accept welfare. As a conservative, I fully admit that even when I suspect that the young man mopping the diner floor might be an illegal alien, I have a genuine respect for his willingness to work.
But Republicans have been woefully negligent in not actively and
vigorously communicating with these communities the benefits of free
markets, low taxes, and other conservative approaches to government.
Instead, they have played the "me too" game, which is always doomed to
failure - you'll never outdo Democrats when it comes to handing out
checks.
Which brings us to Sotomayor. Instead of knuckling under, Republicans should use this opportunity to expose the Democrats for the shameless race hustlers that they are. Point out to Hispanic voters that it was a Republican President who appointed the first Hispanic Attorney General, and emphasize that he was selected based on his qualifications, not his ethnic heritage.
And remind them of Democrats' long history of opposing civil rights for American blacks. Both the 1954 and 1964 Civil Rights acts were passed when a majority of Republicans supported them - while most Democrats voted against them. Most of the original gun control laws were written by Democrats desperate to keep former slaves from owning guns - while it was Republicans who tirelessly worked to guarantee that freedmen could defend themselves against Klan "Night Riders" and other racist groups. Even today, it is liberal Democrats who want to disarm the inner city poor.
And don't forget to mention the Democrat's shameful treatment of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Today's Democrats are more than willing to eviscerate any "person of color" who dares to stray from the liberal plantation of big government and welfare.
But to have any success at attracting the wider Hispanic vote, Republicans will simply have to mount a serious, high profile, and very passionate campaign to reach out with the reasons that ALL Americans are better served by conservative principles, rather than being seduced by the promise of ever more "free" stuff.
Unfortunately, having watched Republicans over the last couple of election cycles lose election after election by caving in to the Democrats, I'm not very confident that they will reverse course any time soon...