A chief speechwriter for George W. Bush, Michael Gerson, offered his most blunt remarks during a "Future of the Republican Party" panel on the subject of immigration. The problem isn't that the GOP has done insufficient outreach to the Hispanic community, he wrote -- it's that "an element of the party has set out to positively alienate the Hispanic community." He cited Proposition 187, a California ballot initiative backed by Republican Governor Pete Wilson that sought to deny public services to illegal immigrants; the controversial immigration enforcement law passed by Arizona voters; the defeat of President Bush's efforts at immigration reform; and Mitt Romney's talk of "self-deportation."
The problem requires "shock therapy," he said -- he spoke of a need to signal, "we understand that this has been on the wrong track," and argued that passing immigration reform is a vital symbolic act.
