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John McCain and Republicans Determined to Permanently Alienate Latino Voters
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John Youngdahl Political Director at SEIU Posted: April 23, 2010 04:42 PM John McCain and Republicans Determined to Permanently Alienate Latino Voters Senator John McCain's recent embrace of border walls and Arizona's draconian immigration enforcement bill would seem shocking -- that is, if we hadn't already seen this play before. His erratic and fanatical flip-flopping on the issue of immigration has become so legendary that it's a wonder the news media still covers it. We first saw it during the 2008 Presidential campaign trail, when Senator McCain would pledge to Spanish language audiences his undying support for comprehensive immigration reform. Then in the afternoon, he'd get on mainstream airwaves and promote border walls and massive deportations. Before that, in 2005, 2006 and 2007, Sen. McCain made his support for comprehensive immigration reform one of his "maverick" issues. He proudly touted the smart policy benefits of the "three-legged stool," a comprehensive reform package that would truly end illegal immigration by coupling immigration enforcement with earned legalization and a controlled system to bring foreign workers to the U.S. in the future. What happened to that bold Sen. McCain? This week, in an outrageous attempt to out-maneuver his zealous anti-immigrant competitor -- former Congressman J.D. Hayworth -- McCain has tacked so far right that it's hard to imagine he'll ever find his way back. As he embraces Arizona's new anti-immigrant bill, SB 1070, pushing unworkable, extremist policies to score cheap points with the shrinking Republican base, McCain increasingly alienates the Latino voters he needs to win the general election. Already, the grassroots group Mi Familia Vota -- through its Civic Participation Campaign -- is calling every Latino voter in the state to engage them in the fight against SB 1070. And you can bet that activism will come back to bite McCain on Election Day. In fact, you would think that John McCain would remember this from his 2008 Presidential bid. In 2004 President George W. Bush, then a proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, got about 40 percent of the Latino vote. But after McCain started proposing reactionary, anti-immigrant policies -- and the Republican party extremists filled the airwaves with anti-immigrant and -Latino rhetoric -- he only got 32 percent of the Latino vote in the general election. That damage to the Republican brand in the Latino community and the resulting eight percent drop in Latino voter support cost him the election in key states like Florida, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. Even McCain's fanatical anti-immigrant competitor, J.D. Hayworth, should know better. He lost his 2006 re-election bid -- in a Republican district -- to Democratic Party candidate Harry Mitchell after publishing his "deportationist" immigration views in his book, By Any Means. In Latino heavy precincts Hayworth's vote share declined from 48 percent in 2004 to 36 percent in 2006. The conservative-leaning Arizona Republic actually withdrew its previous endorsement, citing Hayworth's extreme views on immigration: Hayworth has devolved from a windy and sometimes cartoonish politician into an angry demagogue who has shamelessly and divisively exploited the immigration issue, arguably the No. 1 concern of Arizonans. This time around, the leader of the Somos Republicans, an Arizona Latino GOP group, recently referred to Hayworth as a "lunatic." And now that McCain had jumped on the anti-immigrant bandwagon, you have to wonder where Latino Republicans will turn? Latinos are the largest minority group in the country, and they typically use immigration reform and anti-immigrant demagoguery as a litmus test to judge candidates. If John McCain thinks Latinos will forget his pandering to the sentiments of certain fringe elements of the Republican Party come November, he should think again. Poll after poll shows that more than 87 percent of Latino voters nationwide will not support political candidates who are against comprehensive immigration reform. (And by the way, polls also show that mainstream Americans and independent voters similarly reject such radical, anti-immigrant views on the campaign trail.) Seems like it's time to hire some new campaign strategists. At this point, McCain and J.D. Hayworth may well be lost causes. But in other states across the country, there is space for Republicans to step into the leadership void, refuse to allow the Glenn Becks, Rush Limbaughs, and Tom Tancredoo's to be the face of their party to Latinos, reach out across the aisle and help deliver the kind of smart solutions on immigration reform that this country needs. McCain was right two years ago when he said, "We have economic and humanitarian responsibilities as well, and they require no less dedication from us in meeting them." Indeed, this old McCain would have a future in American politics today. Unfortunately, he's nowhere to be seen. It's time Republican strategists learn from the mistakes of their past and give us true leaders that don't let the winds of political expediency undermine their higher call to fix our nation's most serious problems. Otherwise, Republicans better get used to their place as the permanent minority party. |
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