Posted on 01/15/2004 7:07:05 AM PST by cricket
January 15, 2004 -- PRESIDENT Bush's im- migration/amnesty proposal will probably be remembered in history as the idea that saved a political party. By taking the lead in extending the benefits of legal protections to more than 10 million illegal immigrants now living in the United States, Bush has taken a bold and dramatic step to avert the extinction of his own party.
Until Bush acted, the grinding inevitability of demographic change was likely to doom the GOP to an early death. As America became 1 percent more Hispanic each year, the Republicans could not concede this growing group to the Democrats by 2-1 ratios without risking total annihilation down the road.
The Republicans have got to break the solid demographic phalanx that sustains the Democratic Party: Blacks, Hispanics and single white women. Together, this group cast 25 percent of votes in 1990, 32 percent in 2000 and will account for 40 percent in 2008.
But by embracing the cause of Hispanic immigrants and extending to them elemental civil rights and minimum-wage protections, Bush has struck a blow on their behalf that will resonate in their voting habits for generations to come.
His legislative proposals are akin to the sponsorship of a sweeping civil-rights bill in 1963-65 by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and will have a similar effect in binding Hispanics to the Republicans as the civil-rights legislation did in linking blacks to the Democrats.
For decades, Republicans systematically alienated Hispanics by insisting on English-only initiatives, opposing benefits for illegal immigrants and demanding an end even to free public schools for the children of those who came here illegally. These measures drove Hispanics into the waiting arms of Democrats. Bush has now acted to reverse the legacy of these initiatives and to welcome Hispanics into the GOP.
As Catholic voters, who take their religion seriously, Hispanics are a natural Republican constituency. Recent data that closely links the frequency of church attendance to party-voting habits supports the theory that this very religious voting group is likely to adhere to the Republican Party once its platform stops repelling them at every turn.
Republican efforts to win black voters have proven largely fruitless. Even the appointment of blacks to the two top jobs in the Bush foreign policy apparatus has failed to generate any significant African-American support for Bush in the polls. But candidates who appeal to the Hispanic vote - Gov. Pataki in New York, Gov. Rick Perry in Texas and the Bushes in Florida and Texas - have shown a real ability to get large shares of Hispanic voters.
As Hispanics follow the traditional paths of upward mobility that immigrant groups have trod before them, they are likely to lean more and more toward the Republicans - just as Irish and Italians do these days, abandoning the Democratic orientation of their ancestors.
Hispanics hold the key to the political outcomes in many major states. California, Texas and Florida are heavily influenced by their participation as are New York, New Jersey and Illinois. These are the key battleground states that hold the balance of power between the parties.
Apart from the politics of the issue, the merits also dictate the Bush initiative. America has 4 percent of the world's population but 25 percent of its wealth. It is incumbent on us to open our doors to those who seek upward mobility.
The only thing standing between subsistence and starvation in Mexico, and much of Central America, is the money sent home to needy families by hard working men and women in the United States who tend our gardens, wash our dishes and clean our floors. It is not American workers who they are putting out of jobs, it is American robots. The alternative to their low wage work is not American labor but machines.
The United States needs the skills, energy, savvy and willingness to work hard of our illegal immigrants. They are illegal only because our laws have been nativist and short-sighted. Now Bush is setting them right.
A worthy idea, but becomes no more than a soundbite really when it comes down to the practical implementation .
You have any stats or are you just "puting that out there"?
I have my doubts that it will make any difference at all. But we'll see. If Bush's Hispanic vote in 2004 is higher than the statistical pattern among white voters, it will have made a difference.
This is what I've been saying all along. President Bush is doing more for conservatives than any other president in my lifetime. Anyone who knows these people personally will tell you that for the most part they are family oriented, God fearing people who will work hard and appreciate this country. It breaks my heart to see dissparaging generalizations made against a "natural Republican constituency".
Heartfelt congratulations to Juan on his becoming an American citizen. He is off to a wonderful start by his 'talk radio' choices; enjoying and learning from those who believe in individual achievment/excellence and empowerment. . .
versus, of course, the voices of the anti-individual/personally dis-empowering, collective-Democrat-Left-wing voice of rest of the Media.
May he lead by his example so that others will follow. . .
Wrong, hispanics a traditionally liberal because Pat Buchanan, and the like, scare the bezjeesus out of them. If you had some Republican calling you a freeloading lettuce picker, after working 12 hour shifts, you would vote Democrat also.
When Prop 187 qualified for the ballot more than half of Americans of Hispanic origin favored it. Then came the months of fear white America campaign 24/7 on TV. Finally, the day before the election..
"SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 5, 1994 -- On the eve of Tuesday's election, Proposition 187 maintains a lead in polls but has lost one of its most valuable public relations tools: a majority of Latino voters.
"A recent poll showed that 62 percent of Latino voters surveyed opposed Prop.187, while only 22 per cent said they would vote for the measure to bar illegal immigrants from public schools and health care. "
"'What is happening is the community was not educated before,' said Victor Marquez, a San Francisco opponent of Prop. 187 and an attorney with La Raza Centro Legal.
"The Spanish-language network Univision contributed $100,000 to Taxpayers Against 187, but denies bias in daily news coverage of the measure. Coverage has been unusually heavy in most Spanish-language media outlets because of the strong interest many Latino immigrants have in the initiative." [end excerpts]
From "Prop. 187 Losing Latino Support Majority of Mexican Americans now oppose anti-immigration measure," by Susan Ferriss Special to The Free Press (San Francisco)
http://www.azteca.net/aztec/immigrat/n5prop18.html
Note the Latino "news" reporting network gave money and had "no bias." Note that the racist group "The Race" (La Raza) "educated" the masses. It wasn't just them it was all Democrat "news"papers and, if you read the article, it was also Republicans. To wit, "William Bennett and Jack Kemp came out strongly against it last month. Earlier this month, Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Jeb Bush -- son of ex-President George Bush -- also criticized Prop. 187."
Forty percent of California voters that showed up were there just to vote for prop 187. Twenty-five to thirty percent of Americans of Hispanic origin voted for it. It won big time but Gov. Davis refused to continue Gov. Wilson's appeals. Instead Davis arranged for mediation among opponents of Prop 187. That killed it. Or did it..
Prop 187 is back. Signatures are being gathered now for Nov., 2004. This time it says the state must follow federal law prohibiting non-citizens here ILLEGALLY from having certain benefits and ILLEGALS must be reported to immigration authorities.
The only thing standing between subsistence and starvation in Mexico, and much of Central America, is the money sent home to needy families by hard working men and women in the United States who tend our gardens, wash our dishes and clean our floors. It is not American workers who they are putting out of jobs, it is American robots. The alternative to their low wage work is not American labor but machines.
The United States needs the skills, energy, savvy and willingness to work hard of our illegal immigrants. They are illegal only because our laws have been nativist and short-sighted. Now Bush is setting them right.
Morris, I bet, knows many of the corrupt, criminal ruling class elites in the cesspool of corruption called Mexico. They are the real reason for subsistence and starvation.
They are illegal only because our laws have been nativist....
Hmm, Morris like many posters here who scream Racist! Anti-immigrant! Bigot! Xenophobe! has a little too much Jesse Jackson in him.
If Morris is right then Mexican politicians like California Democrat Party leader Art Torres are right when they say that we are seeing the "last gasp of white America."
I couldn't disagree more strongly. INDIVIDUALS ARE THE KEY TO GOP'S FUTURE. Once the GOP heads down the demoncRAT's "group rights," and "group benefits" road, the GOP is toast. Nobody can lie, cheat, and pander to groups as well as the dishonest demoncRATs. The demoncRATs used to keep their power by giveaways to groups. They are loosing power and offices quickly. People are realizing that individual rights are the proper, and Constitutional, way to go.
Agree; what people do not differentiate are the core values; the work ethic of the people who come into our country.
Of course, not all. . .but many, many of these people whether from Mexico, Brazil or Peru etal; share our vision for the future of America; share the values that made our country great.
They are fleeing the experience and hardship resulting from the very politics that the Democrat-Left would impose upon our country.
They know the difference. More than we can say about many here.
When you are not in a vulnerable situation, you are free to act as an individual. Many of these people are scared and their livelyhoods are at stake. They will migrate to anything that offers support. Example, The threat of Clinton is what made Freerepublic so popular. There is a reason grassroots efforts come together. People have a cause. We either offer a compassionate solution or the Democrats will pretend to embrace them and turn them against us for years to come. And will all be wondering why the Republican party has been lost.
Exactly, people who think all immigrants are trash, haven't seen Jerry Springer. Sometimes I think the exact opposite is true.
The only cause people have nowadays is "give me freebies." Nobody in this country is hurting. If you want proof go to any third world country and see what hurting is actually like. Here we say hurting is someone earning $20,000/year, while still having cable TV, two cars, and still getting thousands of dollars transfered to himself from me, via taxes. DemoncRATs have fallen from power because they run strictly on pandering to the "gimme" causes... Free health care... Free drugs... free days off work if your dog is sick... etc.
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