One of the big reasons Obama won is the latino vote

[Def Conservative]

There’s an entire generation of Americans who don’t even know what conservatism is...we can’t keep talking about it without defining the terms.

We should reach out more to legal immigrants....if this is called pandering so be it, but the Democrats will eliminated us the faster they get to the hispanic vote.

Please don’t let that happen. Don’t let abortion in the 9th month become normal just because you think talking to a hispanic news source is “pandering”

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

I agree that insulting racial groups is wrong and loses votes. My neighbor is Hispanic and voted for McCain. He would not have voted for Hillary either.

However, not enforcing immigration laws and giving amnesty to those who violated those laws are unfair to those people in the world who apply to enter legally. Amnesty also encourages further illegal immigration, and eventually increases the number of voters who can be pandered to by Democrats or worse.

Let’s say that Obama pushes amnesty through congress, in spite of the fact that most voters oppose it. I would say that in 2012, with a good candidate Republicans could win, or even take back congress in 2010. Fair minded US citizens, especially those in families of legal immigrants around the world should view amnesty as outrageously wrong, and voters would likely be pretty impatient with the Dems unless the economy makes a huge recovery.

But in the long run, with at least 20 million new voters plus chain immigration, the future would look bleak.

[spetznaz]

I agree. I am all for people following proper and established protocol when it comes to immigration. Also, I totally believe that granting amnesty to those who have come in illegally is a major slap in the face to those who have had to toil and sweat in their bid to legally participate in the American dream. After all, why do all that if all you need is hire a Coyote to whisk you across broken borders, and then wait for a Democrat and/or Republican politician to wave a policy wand and grant you instant-presto American legality.

With that said, treating all immigrants like they are coming to denude the nation is something that is not very prudent, particularly when at least SOME component of those immigrants already foster the kernels of conservatism. A Hispanic immigrant who came here legally (oh, and there are a good number of those) and who has a strong Catholic background will not be for abortion and will be a strong social conservative. An African immigrant who had to study odd hours of the night and work hard jobs to try and make a good living to not only grab his piece of the American dream, but also make enough to send to the rural areas back home, will not want to participate in any socialist 'share the wealth' nonsense with people who are not willing to work as he did. An Indian immigrant, having grown up in a nation (India) that is the world's largest democracy, but that is also under constant threat of Islamic terror (be it via a random Jihadi suicide bomber in a train station, or the ever-lurking bristle of Chinese and Pakistani nuclear weapons targeted at Kolkata and Mumbai) will not clap his/her hands kumbaya and pretend that the world is a place where a nation can do without strong national defense. A French European immigrant, fleeing draconian tax laws in his homeland, will not pooh-pooh Reagan-esque tax cuts as élitist.'

However, there are FReepers who have select names for each of these people, ranging from 'scum' to 'savages' to ímmigrants from a place where people crap on the streets' to 'surrender monkeys' (actual terms used on FR for, respectively, Hispanics, Africans, Indians, and the French). Now, treating them with respect and judging EACH for their OWN action is something that should be common sense, but that is apparently not common. Note: giving them a modicum of respect will NOT make them vote for our side, but it is surely better than calling them scum outright.

We are in a position where every vote counts. The GOP will not survive if it loses its conservative core and becomes a Bud-lite version of the Democrat party. We will also not survive if we treat every one who does NOT look like the áverage' Republican as scum, and forget that some of the people who may have a big hand to play in the future of the GOP (e.g. michael Steele, Bobby Jindal) also do not look like the áverage' GOPer. On YouTube the other day I saw a young African-American guy giving very strong and fervent speeches on why voting Democrat is stupid ...all it takes to negate his passionate appeals to other African-Americans is ONE ranking Republican saying something imprudent.

Anyways, it's up to ya'll. However, look at who mostly voted for McCain ...it was mostly people over 65. That is not good.

[Dagny&Hank]

If more Republicans read and understood your excellent posts in this thread, we would be winning elections for President, Senate, House, Governors, State legislatures, and local mayors and councils. But, unfortunately, there are too many in the Republican party who are determined to ignore your advice, and thus make the GOP a losing minority, and thus clutch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Clemenza]

Focus on border control so that they don’t come in here in the first place.

AMEN!

[Clemenza]

But why was the vote so close? Because so many WHITE people (more than usual) voted for Obama.

The secularization/"greening" of the upper middle class, along with the proletarians (especially in the upper midwest and northeast) returning to the party where they belong lost it for us.

Your argument would hold water if a 60+ majority (a la Mississippi) of the white vote would have gone to McCain in those states. It didn't. The proles and the "anxious middle class" went for Obama.

[rmlew]

We have gone out of our way to invite Hispanics.
What would you have us do? Say that we should end our commin culture complete?
Allow in illegal aliens because they might be third-cousins of legal aliens and citizens?

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

Again, I agree with you. Let me say some good things about people south of the border.

I remember I slid off the road in Mexico once and was stuck in a ditch. Now bear in mind I have yellow hair and don’t look like most of the people there. About 10 minutes later a dozen guys appeared with shovels and dug me out. I would not expect to be treated so well in the USA.

Some US citizens also underestimate the talent that you find south of the border. I have exchanged email with (and have his CD, unfortunately out of print now) a Mexican guitarist who transcribed and played a significant part of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier. I think writers like Jorge Luis Borges are amazingly original and intelligent.

Having said that, the USA needs to be careful with its immigration policy. I don’t want to import crime and corruption (like “La Mordida”).