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Immigrants and minority voters vote Democrat, in large part (and I know this because they’ve told me) because of the sort of blanket anti-minority and anti-immigrant sentiments that one can see expressed here and other right-wing web sites, on some right-wing talk radio stations, and by some right-wing politicians. Having Jesse Helms sing “Dixie” to Carol Moseley-Braun, for example, is the sort of thing that costs Republicans minority votes, no matter how much I disliked Moseley-Braun or how reliably conservative Helms was and it also cements the image of southern whites and things like the Confederate flag as inherently racist in the minds of minorities. A lot of minorities and immigrants are socially conservative and even fully conservative and I have black friends who vote Republican. But if we want larger numbers, we’ve got to knock off letting the snide and bigoted remarks pass as normal discourse on the right.

Immigrants and minority voters vote Democrat, in large part (and I know this because they’ve told me) because of the sort of blanket anti-minority and anti-immigrant sentiments that one can see expressed here and other right-wing web sites, on some right-wing talk radio stations, and by some right-wing politicians.

I suggest you read your history. Long before there was a Jesse Helms or a right wing web site, immigrants voted Dem or socialist. Much of it has to do with how the immigrants viewed the role of government whether they were Irish or Jews from Eastern Europe or Italians.

The Democrats offer immigrants services and benefits from a paternalistic government, something many of the immigrants experienced in their home countries. The same applies to today's immigrants. They are in favor of universal health care, national pensions, and big government.

A lot of minorities and immigrants are socially conservative and even fully conservative and I have black friends who vote Republican. But if we want larger numbers, we’ve got to knock off letting the snide and bigoted remarks pass as normal discourse on the right.

I can only speak for myself. What have I said that was snide or bigoted? As for this mythical assumption that many minorities are socially conservative, the facts say otherwise. The out of wedlock birthrates for Hispanics is 50% topped only by the black rate of 68%.

I also dispute your generalization that snide and bigoted remarks are part of the normal discourse on the right. This is the Dem caricature.

Immigrants and minority voters vote Democrat, in large part (and I know this because they’ve told me) because of the sort of blanket anti-minority and anti-immigrant sentiments that one can see expressed here and other right-wing web sites, on some right-wing talk radio stations, and by some right-wing politicians.

Like calling Sotomayor's comments racist?