The tenor of the debate among elite Republicans on immigration reform goes something like this. They try to pretend it isn’t political and they debate the merits of creating a whole bunch of new Latino citizens. Then they talk about how they need to be more welcoming to Latinos as a party. And then they realize that Latinos won’t vote for them even if they pretend to be nice. So, in the end, they reject immigration reform because they think it will make it harder to win elections. It’s always all about elections, and they assume that the Democrats only want immigration reform so they can get more voters.
Here’s the first thing the elite Republicans need to do. They need to sit down and ask themselves why they have become a party of racist assholes. Then they have to consider the possibility that it sucks to be a party of racist assholes. The Democrats discovered this forty years ago, and they did something about it. They passed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts and let Nixon have the racist assholes.
LBJ knew he was giving the South away for several generations. He did the the right thing anyway. It’s time for the GOP to split with its racist assholes even if that means they can’t win any elections for a while.
A party based on white supremacy, xenophobia, militarism and corporatism is not a pleasant thing. We fought a major war to crush a party like that. You can look it up.
ZOMG GODWIN!!11!!
Good post. Shared.
And it’s not just about elections. The Elite Republicans rather like a pseudo-legal-limbo workforce that has no bargaining power, receives no benefits, and is paid slave -wages. What’s not to like?
They should calm down. The American workforce is already in sight of this.
Huh? What?
You weren’t talking about WWII in your last paragraph?
Could be. You might draw that conclusion. I don’t know nuttin’ about no Godwin, though.
“Then they talk about how they need to be more welcoming to Latinos as a party. And then they realize that Latinos won’t vote for them even if they pretend to be nice.”
I’m not so sure of that. Bush got 40% of the Latino vote simply by not being a total asshole towards them like this year’s GOP field.
“They need to sit down and ask themselves why they have become a party of racist assholes. Then they have to consider the possibility that it sucks to be a party of racist assholes.”
They became the party of racist assholes because it worked. It doesn’t suck for them at all as long as they can get the votes they need from doing it. That appears to something they can count on less and less every cycle. They have to adapt.
40% ain’t helpful when you’re adding new voters to the polls.
If the 40% was in 2000 you need to consider the context. First, the media was so breathlessly misreporting every negative false rumor about Gore that they allowed Rove to define Bush exactly as he wanted to … a “moderate” on all issues who even spoke Spanish. And that was before the GOP went on their anti-wetback campaign (led by Lou Dobbs and every night on CNN with able assistance from Glenn Beck also then on CNN – you know, the network the GOP thinks of as liberal). That was really, really ugly.
In addition, the 40% was propped up by the Cuban-Americans who, if I recall correctly, gave Gore only 24% of the vote. Now that segment is roughly split down the middle depending on your exit poll.
The fundamental problem for the GOP leadership is that they created a frankenvoter to win a couple of immediate elections and now that voting segment has taken over their party and they’ve lost control. GOP California governor Pete Wilson used anti-hispanic initiatives (oh, they were labeled “anti-illegal immigrant” but everyone on both sides knew what they were about … they were about getting the bigot vote motivated and solidly on the GOP side) to win some elections in California in the 90s. And they worked, then. That was part of the GOP’s remarkable run of holding the California governor’s seat for 27 of 32 years (the odd number is because of the recall in 2003 that the GOP launched).
Now of course the GOP is almost dead in California. They have to run female non-politicians or popular actors with no track records of catering to the GOP frankenvoter to compete in state-wide races and even then they don’t stand a chance unless they have a 10-to-1 funding advantage. And a big part of the reason is that California Latinos understand what the GOP stands for.
Yes, yes, yes — and this is the issue that has the potential to split the GOP coalition. I’ve long felt the Democrats could have actively split that coalition by calling for sanctions on employers who hire illegals. They would have run to the right of the Republicans because they would have felt compelled to defend their corporate overlords.
Alas, demographics is doing the job for us and they are in a bind. How to reach out to Latinos when immigration reform was one of the issues that gave rise to the Tea Party?
“I’ve long felt the Democrats could have actively split that coalition by calling for sanctions on employers who hire illegals.”
And you would have been wrong. Spectacularly wrong. It would destroy the democratic coalition. A great many of the small businesses that I deal with whom hire undocumented workers are owned by Hispanics. At least here in California, which has a rather large Hispanic population. Complete Spanish speaking businesses.
It’s an idea only a republican could live.
.
Sorry,
It’s an idea only a republican could LOVE.
Anybody see any “Viva Romney!” bumper stickers or signs?
Me, neither. That little difference–“Viva Bush!”–was enough to win over a lot of older Catholic conservative Latinos.
Romney and the rest of the GOP primary Klown Kar Krew were too busy screeching about Minutemen and amnesty to ever get any credibility back. And that’s the way it’s going to stay…anyone who thinks these guys are going to ‘look in the mirror’ needs only to spend ten minutes in the comments section of ANY ‘conservative’ propaganda outlet.
A Party of Denialism, frosted with Nixonian tricks has always missed/denied the reality that diversity is the strength ingredient not the weakness.
Sadly, they are ‘white out’ng their own relevance.
I watched Up on MSNBC this AM while on the treadmill. According to the former Romney advisor on the panel, it’s a matter of perception that’s keeping folks away from the party. That is, folks perceive themselves as unwanted by Republicans and stay away. Allegedly, they would actually be welcome.
I’m sure that’s it, mere misperception.
I think Ta-Nehisi Coates shit all over that assertion by Avik Roy.
I sometimes think that “white supremacy, xenophobia, militarism and corporatism” also led to the internal collapse of the Soviet Union. A small click of incompetent old assholes and their cronies running the show for themselves while everyone else suffers. Propaganda is used to keep power. It’ll work for awhile, but only for awhile because their incompetence and selfishness inevitably brings about great economic distress and the need for massive change if the system is to survive. Maybe there’s a lesson there.
I think the Republicans have to rethink, why they embrace the likes of Kris Kobach or they will lose the White House for a Generation.
Immigration Reform will be an economic boost too, there are 11 million people who cannot get on an Airplane to travel, buy a house, get a car loan and attend college.
I don’t see the GOP having a sit-down and a healthy look at itself in the mirror.
I see the former Reform Party and Teabaggers splitting it up somehow. Or the GOP retrenches and never retreats from them…and continues to shrink.
Assholes will be with us, always. They don’t learn from their mistakes. They are the very definition of insanity: Keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting NEW results that work.
Hannity’s ‘conversion’ notwithstanding.
If you don’t have white supremacy there is simply no basis for the angry white man. LBJ certainly handed the angry white man over to the Republicans but equally important, the Republicans purged their crazy faction during the Goldwater time. It was Nixon who strengthened this angry white coalition by opposing another self imposed minority, the counterculture. This worked a long time for them because the dog whistle was not heard by everyone, that’s why they call it the dog whistle. Later they added the religious component based solely on opposition to gay rights and abortion. Then along comes McCain stirring the pot with Palin completely reversing the Goldwater purge. The dog whistle was important and McCain was shocked by the result when they lost it. Then the tipping point came with the Tea Party in complete outrage over Latino immigration. Their anti-abortion faction begins to attack women’s rights resulting in a severe gender gap. LBJ may have handed the angry white man to the Republican but with the dog whistle now gone, the Republicans have handed pretty much all people of color including Asian-Americans and women to the Democrats. That’s a lot of people plus they are a growing demographic. What a gift. Can the Republicans undo this mess? Never, because it’s who they are and with the dog whistle gone, we all know what this is.
LBJ said that the south was lost for a generation. He may have suspected that it would be generations but doubt few others among his colleagues did. In general, Americans don’t do the right thing if the cost is high.
In general, we don’t the right thing until forced to.
Which is why we’re boned on Climate Change.
I’m sorry to say that you are right and I’m sure you are sorry to hear it.
They need to sit down and ask themselves why they have become a party of racist assholes. Then they have to consider the possibility that it sucks to be a party of racist assholes.
Or, they might do what Republicans always do and double down.