How to Appeal to Hispanics: DON’T!
Hispanics tend not to believe in abortion on demand. Democrats raise campaign funds promising to keep the barbaric practice going. The countries of origin of many Hispanics have governments that stand in stark contrast to conservative values. The governments in these despotic nations often control all the wealth for a select group of elites. The citizens are often left in abject poverty. Corruption is a way of life in these nations. That’s why the ancestors of American Hispanics fled those nations. Democrats envy the unchallenged government power in these backward countries, but conservatives stand for something greater, our American ideals. In truth, it shouldn’t be all that hard. Hispanic voters are ready to hear conservative ideas because they’ve seen the destruction that liberal thought brings. The GOP just has to articulate the differences between the parties.
If the GOP really wants a successful strategy for persuading Hispanics, for heaven’s sake don’t do “outreach.” Hispanics are sophisticated enough to know when we’re being pandered to. The word “outreach” rings about as hollow as the myriad of campaign promises already broken by President Obama. We’d just as soon the GOP treat us as Americans, not as a voting bloc. We get plenty of that from Democrats already. If one must call this strategy something, to help get your mindset right, call it a“partnership.” That word indicates investments, skin in the game, and mutual risk and reward.
In short, if you want to “appeal” to Hispanics, don’t — at least not in the traditional liberal Democrat sense. Instead, recognize that Hispanics, at least the majority who are not overt leftists, want the same things that all Americans want. I think the GOP has been a victim of the mainstream press. The biased purveyors of so-called “news” in America have gone out of their way to present the Hispanic community as a monolithic voting bloc. And the media has been dutiful in trotting out the most extreme leftists imaginable as de facto spokespersons for that group. Is it any wonder that the GOP and America in general believe that all Hispanics want cradle-to-grave welfare, desire open borders with Mexico, and look at America as the “Great White Satan”? Rest assured, these loud-mouthed leftists in no way represent a majority of Hispanics, much less the total group. Our ancestors came to the United States to escape oppressive leftist governments. These governments were full of politicians that squandered wealth and resources in an effort to enrich themselves with control and power. The GOP shouldn’t try to “appeal” to Hispanics by just telling us what they think we want to hear. It’s a safe bet that if the Grand Ole Party simply advocates small constitutional government, low taxation, and the rule of law, they’ll have the Hispanic vote. Just be honest and forthright and deliver on the promise that is America. That’s where Democrats have fallen short. And it’s all any American really wants.
In Semi-Defense of an Abortionist
As Pro-Life Republicans and one Democrat in the House of Representatives prepare to introduce HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, designed “to prevent federal funding for abortion procedures by codifying the Hyde Amendment, which has long barred federal agencies from paying for abortions,” the pro-abortion lobby is equally prepared to defeat it.
NARAL, which regularly changes the meaning of that acronym, (National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, National Abortion Rights Action League, National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League), predictably attacked the measure as astoundingly hypocritical.
Nancy Keenan, NARAL president, claimed “It seems that they’re fine with government intrusion, as long as it involves interfering in women’s personal, private decisions.” Her logic is that, “These same lawmakers voted to repeal a health-care law that provides prenatal care and the promise of no-cost birth control to women. Now, they want to make it even harder for women to purchase private health insurance that includes abortion coverage with their own money:” http://tiny.cc/1aw7a
Keenan’s statement is incorrect and is a misrepresentation for a number of reasons. First, Right to Lifers opposed Obamacare provisions to clandestinely use taxpayer funding, not for prenatal care and birth control but to pay for abortions. Secondly, whether taxpayer-funded or individually-funded, whatever the source of monies to pay for it, abortion is still an abomination.
It’s also interesting to note that NARAL rarely uses the term, “abortion,” opting instead to refer to “reproductive rights” and other less honest euphemisms to describe the taking of a pre-born human being’s rights.
However, lies and euphemisms aside, West Philadelphia, PA abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell is getting a bad rap simply because he used a scissors to complete seven abortions rather than the far more politically correct scalpel, suction aspiration, chemical burning, or other legally and socially-approved methods of terminating life in utero. If Dr. Gosnell had done the grisly job right in the first place, he wouldn’t have had to resort to scissors in the second place but whether he should now be charged with murder is debatable.
Gosnell, whose “abortion clinic was described as a filthy, foul-smelling ‘house of horrors,’ ” according to one account, was also charged with an eighth murder for overdosing a pregnant mother with pain killers, but that’s a whole other story. So, too, are the facts he lacked any obstetrical or gynecological training or credentials and that he became a millionaire from his butchery.
Pennsylvania authorities were shocked . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=3456)
I find the whole re-branding of “reproductive rights” offensive. Time to start calling a spade a spade. These people are pro-abortion. Period. I am not pro-life, I am anti-abortion. Anyone who chooses to give birth rather than opt for an abortion is vilified rather than cheered for having taken charge of their reproductive rights.
You wanna kill your baby because you were so irresponsible you couldn’t bother having your boyfriend wear a condom – which are handed out for free! – then don’t expect ME to pay for your abortion. Period.
Why does anyone think it is ok to kill a baby just because it’s still inside it’s mother? How soon does it become ok to kill the newborn, then a 3 month old… Where does it stop?
Where does it stop? It never does. Recall that Andrea Yates was a feminist hero. As far as they were concerned, she simply performed five retroactive abortions.
“Group politics” is “Progressive”/Socialist/Communist thinking and should be avoided by all lovers of Liberty and Freedom.
Right on! Hispanics are not a herd of idiots looking for someone to tell us what to think. Hispanics are natural Conservatives: family, religion, hard work. We remember we come from places were those values have succumbed to corrupt GOVERNMENTS. We want more than anyone the America of opportunity and NOT the America of entitlement and welfare. Mr. Jeb Bush should have saved Terry Schiavo from a slow death by starvation and dehydration, and his brother should have concentrated in keeping the US government small instead of placing more gigantic administrations on the backs of the American taxpayer.
Great thoughts, Chris. And be of good cheer — this is exactly what the great majority of the GOP has been doing for decades.
The basic platform says: These are our values, and all who share them are enthusiastically welcomed to join with us, regardless of gender, race or religious affiliation. We are gender neutral and colorblind.
We contrast that most American of political philosophies with the Democrat platform: You are special group, a different group, unlike your fellow citizens, and lesser. Join with us and we will create government quotas for how many shiny objects will be given to people who look like you. You will always be treated differently because of your gender, skin color, or religious affiliation and we will make sure of it – and we will separate you from other Americans by color and shape. We are better than you and we will protect you.
It is sad and pathetic to see how many minorities buy that pitch.
Oh please. Most of the republicans for the last several decades have been RINO’s. They haven’t followed the constitution any better than the democrats. The only difference is the speed of the movement to socialism. Hopefully that will end now, but there are still way to many RINO’s still in office… Brown is one prime example of where the republican isn’t any better than a demo would have been. I had my hopes for him but bleh, they’ve been dashed on the rocks of reality.
AMEN!!
Also, a look at the values blacks have (at least in south Texas) shows most are more in line with conservatives. Too bad skin color is a determining factor for some.
with people like Lee representing you..i wonder what blacks even have in mind for their future.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of the 18th Congressional District of Texas is a blowhard. Ebonics, thoughts seem to go over her head as she “argues’ her point..”stupidly”. I hate to see her on tv, I cringe.
We get our ideas about people from the things they do and the people they elect. If people think that a skin color or nationality is the answer, just look at the mess we have goin on in our country now and the will see how wrong they are.
I don’t understand “appealing” to any group. We are a group of “Americans”..not some subculture from the moon!..except for Lee of course..
As a non-Hispanic fourth generation American, I get disgusted and turned-off when I hear crap like Hispanic “outreach”. Many Americans are slowly being taught to HATE the whole concept of “Hispanic” simply because…many Americans are being relegated to second class status or simply ignored in the stampede to grab the Hispanic vote. People are being told every day and in every way, hey – get to the back of the line. You’re not Hispanic so we don’t give a crap what you think. Suddenly the white American vote doesn’t count and people who just arrived here are treated as dignitaries and special citizens. I like your idea. It should have been obvious decades ago. Treat everyone like an American and we will see there are less differences between us than we have been told. The mere fact that the name “Hispanic” is being used at every opportunity is a TURN OFF to the average America. Thankfully people are finally getting the guts to say so.
Chris,
Have to admit when I saw the title of this article I was a little curious. Upon reading, I realized that you are one of the first I have seen interested in what is really going on.
I have a look sad, (angry) story of how illegal Mexican aliens took over my small town in Lake Tahoe, and how I am now in So Cal to help my aging parents and cannot get a job because I do not speak Spanish, there are lots of jobs here if you are not white or black.
As a strong willed, non liberal and with inspiration from web sites like yours and “Left Coast Rebel” etc. I manage.
However I have been forced to accept public assistance and by doing so I am asked if I want to register to vote. Leave it blank no benefits. The workers, 85% Mexican with poor English skills insisting I register Democrat.
When I tell them I am registered, not as Dem, they try and make me change. After that I am treated like Libs say Whites treat Blacks.
It is much worse, pregnant illeagal Mexicans have priority over hernia operation. AND you should look at what a non citizen gets as far as assistance by going on a county site and looking what you get when you are forced to.
At first all those benefits make it sound hopefull, until you read on and are not eligible because you are legal.
I am not a racist I have many Mexican friends I trust, and they are legal and angry. They joke that Mexicans don’t vote, white people vote FOR THEM.
You article is right on.
I think most Legal Mexicans would vote non-Democrat if all the free perks and signing bonuses were cut.
Most people don’t seem to realize, that as a new Mexican (to USA) does as the group or risks retribution. Many do not realize what voting is and that it has consequences, and they don’t care, because now they can eat.
If your title has an answer, ‘By doing what you are doing’.
Thank you
Why don’t you and Ruben Navarrette hava PJM version of a blogging heads debate? Just make sure Ruben knows the difference between ILLEGAL immigrant and LEGAL immigrant.
ALIEN!!! NOT IMMIGRANT!
Great article! Sound advice, too. Lefty “outreach” is not respectful at all. It’s condescending, pandering and sooo obviously fake. The GOP doesn’t need to sink to the level of the opposition. The GOP just needs to stand for the values that attract immigrants to this country in the first place. Shared values make the GOP a more natural fit for Hispanics in general. The challenge is to defeat the wall of devisive static noise perpetually generated by the Left. I would think that the Left’s biggest fear is that their discredited tactics will utterly fail with regards to Americans of Hispanic heritage.
I agree in principle. The MS13-etc Latinos will go Demogogue Party no matter what for the money and the gimmes and the local power (a la Acorn).
So go for the 80% of thinking, working, decent Latinos with straight talk. Don’t turn them off with pandering BS like the Demorats.
But in practice? Well . . . there aren’t any articulate free-market/free-thinking Republicans to provide the message. They’re all still in the Country Club carving up their gains from the 2010 election, and they won’t come out!
On July 4, 1886 Theodore (the Republican) Roosevelt delivered a 4th of July speech in the frontier town of Dickinson in the Dakotas. It was a small town, with a population of seven hundred.
Roosevelt closed his speech with these remarks.
Those days seem to have passed into oblivion. The “outreach” to Hispanics – of whom there are many of varied aspirations – as though they were one homogeneous mass of mindless bees in a hive may well buy a few votes and possibly forfeit others. However, it serves to diminish their chances of becoming part of the America to which they came, many in search of the freedoms of which Roosevelt spoke. It diminishes the rest of us as well. It is a shortsighted and grossly flawed notion.
Encouraging identity politics isnt a good strategy. Something most Black Conservatives dont understand.
That said, and noting the ongoing Black Tea Party event in Houston, I’m convinced that the conservative movement will have to chose either Blacks OR Hispanics (but not try to get both), noting that for many blacks, stopping illegal immigration is a large draw, and for many hispanics, stopping the perceived affirmative action and welfare gravy train to Blacks is just as big a draw. In actuality both use it about the same rate nowadays, except the Black uses a Sedan DeVille and a Mexican uses an Escalade to drive to the aid office. I, as an A-M-D, would for one feel less animosity along side a Dale Robertson type than I would at a decidely black conservative event.
the united states of america is made up of americans
americans are citizens of the united states
together we are the melting pot of a constitutional gumbo
to differentiate by class or ethnicity is to not let the contents of the pot meld together and, ultimately, create a crap gumbo
Thank you for this article- addresses one of my pet peeves- there is no such thing as HISPANIC or LATINO- it is a made-up concept- I live in Miami and experience the same issue with no Spanish-no job as the poster above- The majority (51%) is Spanish speakers- white and black non Spanish are at a BIG disadcvantage in getting employment-
but I still love my city and have no problem living with the people who come here-and how could I live without café con leche?
However the people here are Venzuelans or Columbians and Ecuadoreans are not Cubans or Mexiccans or Salavadoreans- The Peruvians and Argentines have only language in common and not much else to lump them together besides-
Each group herre has pride in their own cultures and family traditions- Trying to homogenize them into ONE big group by language is as insulting as lumping all brown skinned people or ALL JEWS into one political party- it’s disrespectful and condescending.
The Bush family has done more to ruin the GOP name than any Republican since Richard Nixon. “Compassionate conservatism” “kinder gentler” and now “hispanic outreach” are just code words for hand over your wallet taxpayers. They are patricians overflowing with noblese oblige and have no idea what it is to be a working class American, dependent on a paycheck and needing every dime the government takes from that paycheck. I think that is why they lashed out at Gov. Palin recently. She truly is from working class America and they can’t hide their secret disdain for that class anymore.
Chris-
Extending the unemployment benefits occurred because millions of people are out of work due to Republican policies.
I know that’s a pretty general statement; but I figured I’d just join the club since you speak for all Hispanics on a variety of subjects apparently.
If you think Hispanics will all fall in line the Republican spin simply on social issues alone don’t hold your breath.
And when you say the failure of the Mexican government is due to leftist leanings you are simplifying the argument to the point of meaninglessness, (a hallmark of your writing) leaving out the whole concept of official corruption which has been the real dominant paradigm in Mexico since the 1930s and on a level with no comparison the U.S.
You’re straight up insane if you think the current unemployment is attributable to “Republican policies”.
It was not Republican policy that precipitated the bust of the housing market. It was Democratic pandering to their client constituencies that resulted in mortgage companies being forced to give mortgages out to people with no demonstrable likelihood to keep up their payments. Janet Reno’s Justice Department audited financial firms to enforce compliance with this. The ticking mortgage time bomb was a Democratic creation.
Shall we also consider the capricious, mindbogglingly excessive regulatory framework that makes it prohibitively expensive to do business? I think we all know whose fingerprints are all over that.
Here’s a hint: jobs are created when businesses have work to do.
The “appealing to hispanics” thing is really code for electing another Bush. No thanks. All of the dynasties – Kennedies, Bushies, Clintons, McCains should be flushed out of the system once and for all.
Watch it happen – George P Bush – the son of Jeb and a “Hispanic” (like me) – will end up being a candidate for the presidency and a “Republican” that can appeal to the “Hispanics”.
No thanks
Salcedo is right! Appeal to ideas and not to ethnicity and color
You hit the edges of the nail. I always felt that the Bush Republican outreach was one of those things that could have been summarized in the fold-in inside back cover of a MAD Magazine. You would have a picture of several landscapers trimming hedges with some grandiose statement about Presently millions of people toil in anonymity yearning for a resident…
blah blah blah,
but when you folded in the picture it would simply say
PRESIDENT
GEORGE
PRESCOTT
BUSH
The problem for right-wing parties is that ethnic minorities almost never vote for them.
And in this white-guilt, politically correct age, white right-wingers are far too afraid to limit immigration and to deport lowlife recent migrants out of the fear of being called racists who just want to maintain a white ethnic majority.
Not something to really be ashamed of in my opinion. Whites built this country from the ground up and made it the most advanced and dominant nation in human history in less than 100 years.
Something we should be immensely proud of. But oooh, don’t you ever dare say that publicly because that would just be horribly racist.
*eye roll*
You wouldn’t exactly be calling Japanese people racist for limiting immigration from the 3rd world for the same reason.
But whites are different.
They aren’t “allowed” to show any kind of loyalty whatsoever to their own race.
You can thank mostly the Nazis for that.
So, what to do?
In my opinion, we need a right-wing leader with balls. Who isn’t afraid of being called a racist and just gets the dirty work over with that needs to be done to save America from becoming a banana republic overrun by 3rd world immigrants.
The sad thing is, I haven’t seen a single Republican leader with any hint of that kind of courage. They’re just as politically correct and pandering to hispanics as the Democrats are.
So it seems the Republican Party is doomed to a slow motion demographic death.
Which as a former hardcore leftist myself, I’m sure is 100% intentional by the left.
They’re rewriting voting districts one by one (especially traditionally right-wing ones in the South), turning red states blue, all by importing tens of millions of people who will loyally vote for them for generations.
The Right in this country needs to grow a pair and stop this while we still have a chance to. But that window of oppurtunity is quickly closing as white demographics decline and non-white demographics soar.
We’re never going to win a majority of black and hispanic voters. Thinking otherwise is fantasy.
If we can’t now, we never will.
Republicans don’t advocate anything racist, they’ve been just as supportive of open borders as the Democrats, they advocate the socially conservative values that hispanics care about, yet they simply cannot win their votes.
Stop trying. There’s no point.
But here’s a unique idea that could possibly save the day for the Republicans. How about openly pandering to white voters for the first time in decades? We’re still by far the largest and most influential demographic in this country by far last time I checked.
But nope. Everyone is far too afraid of being called racists to ever do that.
But I bet if they tried to, they’d win in a landslide.
I agree with the author.
“Appealing” to Hispanics is a code phrase for kow-towing to odious groups like La Raza and an assortment of parasitic organizations that promote illegal immigration and a weakening of sovereignty.
Appeal directly to people in general. Those who happen to be Hispanic with minds of their own will decide for themselves what’s in their best interest.
Besides, the white majority is still huge. 70% of the population (after you toss out illegals from the equation) is white. What a majority of them really, truly want happens to be what Republicans are offering. Get whites overwhelmingly on your side, peel off some more blacks and hispanics by appealing to their common sense, and throw in East and South Asians (who have a relatively easy time thinking like Republicans), and you’ve got a formidable combination.
My experience with Hispanics is that they are indeed religeous and domestic conservatives with a strong work ethic. But they may be tempted to part with American conservatism in one important way. They have a strong social collectivist streak that is not seen among anglos and nordic people in this country. “Rugged individualism” and the desire to be left alone by one’s government may be a strange concept to them, at least one I have never heard articulated. Indeed, aloneness is a frightening concept to many of them. The conservatives’ appeal to individualism may may fall on stony ground among hispanics.
Thank you. I am a European American Libertarian. I have no skin in the game, just a lot of latino friends. I too am a fan of Jeb Bush. You should be commanded for a most impressive articulation of how any one or group should approach any one or any group —- “treat us as Americans, not as a voting bloc.”
Thank you for saying something that’s been sorely needed. If the Republicans and conservatives do not uphold the central principle of opposing identity politics in all its forms, they are no better than identity-fetishist Democrats.
It’s about principles. It’s about what we’re supposed to stand for.
I am nauseated by the ethnic pandering being showered by prominent conservative pundits on Marco Rubio, the “photogenic, articulate, Hispanic” new senator for Florida. Rubio’s behavior while running the state house had a lot in common with Obama’s worst moments in Illinois — right down to procuring a sleazy set-aside, no-show, taxpayer-funded job for himself the up-tenth time he ran into financial difficulties. One close cabinet-member colleague is being prosecuted for serious crimes also involving pay-to-play schemes with our tax dollars, and Rubio’s documented involvement in that illegal scheme is being tacitly denied by the Right-wing press, too. Scandal upon scandal, all the more disturbing for the particular way they fly in the face of his claims about standing for smaller, more ethical government.
Yet on other national conservative scene, the editors at the Spectator, Nat Review, et. al. refuse to address any of this and humiliatingly cannot stop talking about the tingling feeling they get when they think of him.
One particularly sad thing about this racial preference chatter from the Right is that Rubio could have reformed himself at this stage of his career, acknowledged past failures, and publicly pledged to turn over a new leaf, had it merely been demanded of him. But that opportunity was lost in the tidal wave of puff pieces celebrating his identity, by a bunch of right-wing beltway insiders filing stories that would muster A grades in any ethnic studies seminar.
Talk about the bigotry of lower expectations.
I know a few politically active conservative Hispanics in my town, and they took special pride in seeing Rubio’s candidacy succeed. But we can talk to each other about his record despite this. They know the difference between ethnic pride and ethnic pandering; they have no desire to be treated any differently from non-Hispanic conservatives.
It violates their core political principles, the principles that drew them to conservatism in the first place. The Republican party should get to know these people and remember what they themselves are supposed to stand for, before presuming that some of their constituents want or need special treatment and attention showered on them based on race.
Nice article but you failed to differentiate between illegal and legal immigrants who happen to be of Latin, Hispanic, and Spanish descent. I think you will find huge political sensibilities and differences among so-called hispanics particulary between the illegals and the Cubans, for example, on closer examination. This whole discussion is a misdirection, however. The real issue here is your country is being invaded and slowly being taken illegally. The language of this debate itself is a false hood. There is no such thing as an “illegal immigrant” nor an “undocumented american.” The motivations of our socialist democrats is quite simple..they will stop at nothing even breaking the law and destroying national sovereignty to insure that they create the necessary voting block via amnesty to maintain power and fullfill there agenda. Wake the F*&^K Up!
No, maybe a small percentage, but the big slice of illegal latino immigrants are only mexicans, and the rest of latin-americans just give a dime about Mexicans. We can’t be put in the same bag: normal latinos just want to flee from their former socialistics “heavens-in-the-earth” countries, while mexicans have a conquest agenda; because mexicans have that old weird feeling that America was and is an enemy.
I, as a latino, couldn’t care less about mexican false nationalistic prides: declare it an enemy country, seal the borders, but don’t put the rest of latinos in that nauseating mexican bag.
You MUST live far outside the greater New York City region. there and even a little bit on the far North side of Chicago, I see a an awful lot of Yellow-Blue-Red bunting on storefronts and it ain’t all Colombianos and ‘Zolanos.
I thought about going to Long Island or Jersey to help you guys deal with the black mob beat-down robberies, but I shall reconsider.
Great article! Two paws up!