Posted on 06/30/2007 2:34:23 PM PDT by hardback
Democrats won both houses of Congress in the 2006 elections in part by arguing that Republicans were incompetent to govern. On immigration, they enjoyed a comparatively united party and cooperation from a Republican White House.
More than any other factor, heat from the right killed the bill. But voters elect congressional majorities to solve problems, and Democratic incumbents can expect to pay some price every time they fail.
But that fallout almost certainly will pale alongside the damage to future Republican presidential candidates. Hispanics represent the fastest-growing chunk of the U.S. electorate. Their choices help drive the rising swing states of presidential politics: Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.
Mr. Bush and adviser Karl Rove had built their long-term political strategy around honoring Hispanics' aspirations and courting their support, with notable success in 2004.
And those voters have now heard loud expressions of alarm from the Republican right about their presence in the U.S. That echoes what they heard from California Gov. Pete Wilson in 1994, which benefited Mr. Wilson in the short term but has damaged the party in the Golden State ever since.
The immigration debate also exacerbates the split between Republican social and economic conservatives. The former won the legislative debate.
The latter, in industries such as agriculture, construction and tourism that employ a lot of undocumented people, are left to face the rising heat but no path toward legalization for workers the American economy plainly can't do without.
Mr. McCain may now get a break from the encounters that have lately haunted his campaign journey, with residents of states such as Iowa voicing fear about changes immigrants have brought to their small-town culture.
But for whoever wins the Republican nomination, the path to the White House has almost certainly grown steeper.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Country before party.
And the WSJ’s analysis that most Hispanic voters will go GOP is dead wrong. Most surveys say 70-30 Democratic among illegals
Weasel word.
I don’t see how this could be anything other than wishful thinking on the part of the MSM when the polls said that legal immigrants opposed illegal immigration at the same percentages as citizens who were born here.
WSJ version: cheap labor before either.
Of course, if they went back to their home countries, the hispanic vote wouldn’t be increasing.
Seems on first glance that this article is based on fallacy and poor categorization and may be ignored.
77% of Americans opposed the immigration bill, according Rasmussen. I fail to see how following the will of the American people translates to a steeper hill. I'm not convinced that a lot of hispanic voters aren't illegal themselves. The next immigration bill, which should clamp down on borders and employers, should also clamp down on illegal voter fraud.
Excuse me but these people are here illegally and are not supposed to be voting. If I still took the WSJ, I would cancel it but I already cancelled it!
With so many people opposed to illegal immigration, how could it hurt our candidate? I would think it would hurt the Dems since their candidates voted for the bill.
I have no problem with LEGAL Mexicans...and I’ve spent more than a few vacations in Mexico so it isn’t that I don’t like Mexicans. I just don’t want to be invaded...nobody wants uninvited guests who feel they have a right to everything you have.
I wish they’d quit the Republicans are bigots stuff - sort of surprised to see it from WSJ.
Dem grapes, dey be sour, boss.
If the Government had enforced the 1986 Immigration Bill, California wouldn't be in a mess today, and the Republicans would still be in control.
A majority of Californians voted for the Law, a single Judge blocked it.
The WSJ is wrong to compare what happened in CA to what will happen in the country. CA is not America, America is not CA.
In fact, CA is one of the most anti-American places on Earth.
CA is a trendsetter only in its own mind.
Not so important if they aren't handed citizenship. Why do they think they are growing so fast? Those born in the US tend to have family sizes in line with US norms.
Weasel word
Did he blow last year's congressional election on purpose?
How would the voting demographics change if the GOP decided tomorrow to open the border giving free reign to the Mexican invasion, and make Spanish the official language?
>> political strategy around honoring Hispanics’ aspirations and courting their support
Racial pandering is racism. And as tied to the immigration fiasco, the implication is that the Hispanic Citizen is indifferent to the immigration concerns of non-Hispanics.
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