All of a sudden, the GOP top-tier cares about minorities

November 9, 2007

In September, PBS hosted a Republican presidential candidates’ debate at historically black college in Baltimore — and all of the top four GOP candidates decided to skip it. This followed close on the heels of a Univision-hosted Republican debate in Miami on Latino issues — which was cancelled when all but one candidate declined invitations. The National Council of La Raza asked Republican candidates to address its annual conference in July, but none showed up. The National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials extended similar invitations to the entire GOP field, but only Duncan Hunter agreed to attend.

Just two weeks ago, the entire Republican presidential field blew off the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s debate, co-hosted by Fox News. A not-so-subtle pattern emerged — if you’re darker than a manila envelope, the GOP candidates aren’t interested in talking to you.

But now, I’m pleased to report that the Republicans have had a change of heart.

Jilted by the GOP earlier this year, viewers of the nation’s largest Spanish-language television network will get a chance to see the Republican presidential candidates debate in Miami on Dec. 9.

Three of the leading candidates — Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney — agreed Thursday to participate in the forum at the University of Miami, joining John McCain and lesser-known candidates Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter.

Only McCain and Hunter accepted a Sept. 16 invitation from Univision, forcing the network to call the debate off and allowing the Democrats to lay claim the week before to a history-making opportunity to reach more than two million Hispanic voters.

Apparently, Thompson got the ball rolling, accepting the invitation yesterday afternoon, and wouldn’t you know it, the Romney and Giuliani campaigns immediately followed suit. (Mike Huckabee hasn’t yet confirmed his attendance, and Tom Tancredo, who isn’t known for respecting the Latino community, has said he would boycott the forum.)

So, what do you suppose changed the top-tier candidates’ minds?

Simon Rosenberg attributes the sudden turnaround to the GOP’s new-found understanding that the party’s strategy isn’t working.

Just three days after their 2nd consecutive election where a massive investment in demonizing immigrants did not pay off their Party, the leading GOP Presidential candidates have agreed to participate in a December Univision debate in Miami. There is simply no way to read this action as anything but a national repudiation of their extreme anti-immigrant strategy of recent years, and a desperate attempt to beg the Hispanic community for forgiveness. […]

The GOP’s decision to go to Miami next month is a good one for the country. Let us hope it signals a new era for the Republican Party, one that ends both their demonization of immigrants and their strategy of blocking all common sense immigration reform legislation. In 2006 it was the House Republicans who blocked the big immigration reform package. In 2007 it was the Senate Republicans. Perhaps their admission of defeat will allow a new era where the two parties can come together and design a new 21st century immigration system that reflects the strong values of our great nation and meets the needs of the changing modern American economy.

That sounds about right to me. Particularly in Virginia, Republicans seemed to believe bashing immigrants would save the party from electoral defeat. No such luck — the GOP overestimated the appeal of the divisive message.

And sure enough, shortly thereafter, Republican presidential hopefuls who refused to show up at minority events are suddenly able to clear their schedules for Univision.

It’s not exactly a “change of heart,” is it? More like a change of strategy.

At least Tancredo is honest about where his “heart” is.

  • This will be an interesting sort of flameout. Let’s face it, the field of GOP candidates is filled with so much rich-white-Christian-male hubris, they’re all bound to think appearing at this debate – maybe with a few carefully (phonetically) memorized Latino phrases – will endear them to the commuinity, and doing stuff that might actually benefit the Latinos and their respective communities (and what the hell, let’s be inclusive, all communities in which Latinos reside) will be the last thing on any of the candidates’ minds. And when 2008 comes, and they still get precious little of the Latino vote (except for the diehard Catholic who will vote for an anti-choice candidate no matter how detrimental the rest of his agenda might be for their livelihoods), the GOP will say “well, what the f*** we gave ’em a damn debate on their stupid network, but “those people” are never satisfied! Screw ’em! They’re stupid enough to vote for a Democrat we don’t want ’em anyways!”

    yes, they’ll say it exactly like that.

  • The GOP’s decision to go to Miami next month is a good one for the country. Let us hope it signals a new era for the Republican Party, one that ends both their demonization of immigrants and their strategy of blocking all common sense immigration reform legislation. In 2006 it was the House Republicans who blocked the big immigration reform package. In 2007 it was the Senate Republicans. Perhaps their admission of defeat will allow a new era where the two parties can come together and design a new 21st century immigration system that reflects the strong values of our great nation and meets the needs of the changing modern American economy

    Demonization of immigrants? How about saying illegal immigrants! You are lumping in legal assimilated immigrants with illegal immigrants. The Republicans blocked a bad immigration deal. Strong Values? Strong values would demand that illegal immigrants go bcak to where they came from and knock at the front door. Every other people in the entire free world want to come to America. They fill out the appropriate documents requesting entrance into the U.S. They wait in line. Then when they get here , they quickly learn english and encourage their children to do the same. They find good jobs, pay taxes, and send their next generation to the best schools etc. they can afford. Is this a 21st century immigration policy that you speak of? Or is letting millions of illegals work under the table, so that legal Latino small business that you have worked 20 years to established cant compete and fails? Ok here is the final word on Republican values on immigration! Legal latinos have been part of this country’s heritage since the time of Cortez. Thet nurture our cluture with their goodness. They afford the same opportunity that all Americans afford. There is no distiction between any legal immigrants. They are legal Americans. Then their are illegals. Democrats lump all Latinos in one voting block. The 4th Generation latino family that prides itself because their daughter or son qualified for a scholarship at a distinguished college is no different than a illegal drug smuggling illegal transient. Oh well go ahead and support the dems.

  • You would think these minority organizations would be more discriminatory about who they are willing to have a discussion with. It would be a grand statement if they just said, “We don’t have to talk to no stinking republicans”. Because that’s how they have been treated by the republicans for years. They should be more concerned about how to rid themselves of these bigots rather than trying to appease them. Then they could begin having adult conversations with rational caring people.

  • This is good news, how ??

    Now instead of out-right distain for Mexicans, they will hid it and siphon votes from us. I prefer Tancredo’s view, if you don’t like them, tell people, don’t show up, put on a smile and then screw them when the aren’t looking.

    It will be amusing to watch them stumble through immigration questions, trying to appease Mexicans, yet trying not to upset the base, which hates Mexican’s, pretty hard needle to thread.

    The only one to walk out this without scars will be Tancredo.

  • They’ve let illegals come poring across the border and then try to gain [political leverage by attacking them , hope this means American becoming aware up to thier BS .

  • i hope they all get ripped by the pissed off moderators, embarrassed by their empty ranting and racist bullshit, and booed off the stage back to hell where they belong. this whole last-minute effort is too pathetically transparent for words…or at least, for any more words.

    and tancredo can suck it. peace.

  • ***hey brodhead***that’s just like how the republicans frame it. They are the only ones who don’t want illegal aliens here, the dems all want illegal drug smuggler aliens but republicans only stand for the honest papers in hand approved immigrant. What a crock of shit and you buy and push it. You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Looks to me like you are the one dumping everything into one box. You took top repub talking points and smacked McCain in the face with it…or was it McConnell…or could they not come to any agreement on the immigration policy before ever discussing it with democrats. The immigration reform bill divided the republican party and you are acting like they were united and it was all the dems and you know what dems want…illegal drug smuggling aliens, who are destroying the US immigration policy. Who were the cops beating in that park in California when legal aliens were marching…isn’t that the republican policy…the only good alien is a republican alien…beat all the others.
    Go troll somewhere else as you just look a fool here.

  • All of a sudden, the GOP top-tier cares about pretending to be concerned about pandering to minorities.

    There. Fixed that headline for ya’.

  • strapping on the nomex…

    I’m sorry, but the Republicans are a little more in tune to the issue than most people on our end of the spectrum. They certainly are wrong if they think that even most of their base is anti-immigrant. The real numbers might surprise them, and some of the lefties as well…

    53% of Republicans want legal immigration to either continue at its present level or increase. 51% of Democrats think illegal immigration is a very serious problem, and 55% of Democrats oppose making it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens. 39% of Democrats support eliminating the automatic American citizenship for illegal immigrants’ children who are born in the United States! And 67% of Democrats oppose allowing illegal immigrants to get drivers’ licenses.

    56% of people with immigrant families oppose making it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens, and 66% of them oppose allowing illegal immigrants to get drivers’ licenses!

    Am I supposed to think that this issue is about racism? Get a freaking CLUE.

    I have no problem with legal immigration, but I object strongly to anyone who uses the term “immigrant” to describe someone who broke US law, jumped in front of thousands of other people, and set up shop here to the detriment of their own country*. Many of the Latinos I have talked to think there’s no real difference between legal and illegal immigration, and that’s why they’re so dishonest about the immigration debate, and why they hate the term “illegal immigrant”.

    Many liberals also are in on this bamboozlement, and they want us all to use euphamisms like “undocumented worker” instead of “illegal immigrant”. Let’s leave the euphamisms about lawbreaking to the Republicans, shall we?

    Personally I think it’s really, really stupid for Democrats to play cute with this issue and act like people only oppose illegal immigration because they’re racist. Many people are racist, and they certainly oppose illegal (and legal) immigration for reasons that should be held in contempt. But those of us who are not racist, and who oppose illegal immigration, we find ourselves being cast as racists by people who claim to want the rule of law, but who see this as a political issue instead of a legal one. My point is that if you think that only racist Republicans want to do something to finally put a dent in illegal immigration, you are whistling past the political graveyard.

    Here’s a newsflash, people: Most Americans think immigration is a good thing, but illegal immigration isn’t.

    “there’s very little difference among voting groups on the question of curbing legal immigration.”

    http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=882

    * IMO the best thing we could do for Mexico would be to send millions of hard-working Mexicans back home to shake up their corrupt system. They have seen how a first world country operates, and they have the gumption to come here, so maybe if they couldn’t run back here they’d use their gumption to finally make Mexico into a real country instead of a narcostate that’s dominated by thugs and the catholic church. By allowing the people with ambition to come here, we are siphoning off the one thing that could make Mexico into a decent place to live, and thereby dooming it to be the kind of country that it is.

  • racerx,

    that’s all well and good, great even, but the fact is that the republican candidates have blown off the minorities and would continue to do it if only they could get elected that way. racist, prejudiced, out-of-touch, or not…call it whatever you want…but it’s wrong. now they’ve recognized the error of turning their backs on an important demographic, and they wanna go back and try to make it all better.

    i don’t have any press-stopping four-point solution to our immigration problems, but i sure as hell recognize that rudy and mitt and fred and the gang look like a buncha punks on this deal. i think their hypocritical bullshit deserves at least a little scrutiny.

    but anyway, my head and stomach feel funny. time for a change of scene. peace out.

  • Well, their stradegy worked on me. I’m a Democrat and I have a Tancredo sticker on my car. I may disagree with him on everything else, but Immigration is the most important issue in my book. These ethnocentric groups should be ignored; black and hispanic.

  • DAWN OF THE AMERICAN REFORMATION, AND END OF THE ERA OF THE UGLY AMERICAN

    This Ron Paul constitutional rebellion is an escallation and re-orientation of the American Cultural War, by the American People, against the rising governmental tyranny by Neoconservative Republicans and Leftist Democrats. It is sweeping across America like a wildfire – ignited by the illegal and unnecessary invasion of Iraq.

    It raises many crucial questions; such as, where does the American Constitution give my government the right to sacrifice precious American wealth and blood, in interests of domestic and foreign lobbies?

    And, where does the American Constitution give my government the right to allow my nation to be invaded and permanently by illegal aliens?

    And, where does the American Constitution give my government the right to support the sacrificial killing of children, by their own mothers?

    And, where does the American Constitution give my government the right to discriminate against traditional religious practices in public schools, universities, marriage institutions, armed forces, and governmental offices?

    This creeping governmental tyranny, driven by perverse special interests, has now been going on for so many decades, like the illegal invasion, that the impending American Reformation is regarded with fear and loathing, by those who are to lose their illicit gains.

    Like Gandhi, Ron Paul is drawing his intrepid volunteers from the full spectrum of humanity; and World is cheering him on to victory.

  • Does anyone remember late summer or early fall when the NAACP sent out invitations to all Republican candidates to attend and speak at their annual convention?? Only one accepted the invitation and attended–that was Tom Tancredo. That shows he is sincere in his concern for all Americans. Those who did not attend are now seeking to get votes

  • Hispanics? Please! Gotta to love those Cubans? The GOP still don’t like those black folk (a.k.a. – American Negroes)!

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  • The bottom line is Republicans will cut taxes and save the Republic. It seems Latinos are jumping on the Liberal press’s assessment of what they want Latinos to think. They want Latinos to think that the Democrats honor and respect them and undertsand their culture and plight. Latinos mean votes for the Democratic Socialist party. Look at Hillary’s platform and Rangels tax plan before passing judgement. While in the Air Force, I served with every culture, color and creed. As an Air force brat, I was raised to respect the content of character not the color. Personally, I do not make distinction about race when people are Americans. Democrats dont make a distinction either. Go ahead and vote democratic, you will have to “suck it up” like the rest of us when the democratic Socialsit party raises your taxes and takes the equity in your home.

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