Posted on 07/20/2005 8:28:43 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
Inquirer Staff Writer
Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean told the National Council of La Raza yesterday that he expected the Republican Party to "scapegoat immigrants" during the 2006 election campaign.
In a speech on the last day of the Hispanic advocacy organization's annual gathering, at the Convention Center, Dean said the GOP had tried to generate resentment against blacks in the 2002 elections through the issue of affirmative action and against gays last year by focusing on marriage.
"In 2006, it's going to be immigration," he said. "You wait and see."
As evidence, Dean cited Rep. Thomas G. Tancredo (R., Colo.), who has called for rounding up illegal immigrants and shipping them back home. He also referred to a bill sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R., Wis.) that would make states verify individuals' immigration status before issuing them driver's licenses.
"I don't think the president is a bigot," Dean told reporters at the Convention Center. "But I wish he'd have the courage to stand up to the bigots in his own party."
Dean's Republican counterpart, Ken Mehlman, followed him to the rostrum and did not respond there. But later, he told reporters that the former Vermont governor's comments were "laughable."
Said Mehlman: "It sounds like a good political sound bite, but it's entirely belied by this president, this administration's record."
Mehlman noted that President Bush has created what the party chairman called "the most diverse administration in history," that Bush got more than 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004, and that the party is striving to get a bigger share in the future.
"Your interests are our interests," he told his Hispanic audience during his speech. "Your cause is our cause."
Last month, when first attacked on the immigration issue by the Democratic chairman, Sensenbrenner called the allegations "outrageous" and Tancredo labeled Dean as being out of the political mainstream.
Mehlman did reply to one of the convention's previous speakers, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D, N.Y.). On Monday, she told the La Raza convention that the Bush administration was not doing enough for Hispanic families.
The Republican chairman pointed out that Bush has raised federal spending on education, a key concern of Hispanics, more than had the previous administration, headed by Clinton's husband.
I'd vote for a RINO before ever voting for any DemocRAT.
You know, come to think of it Dean's comments sound hauntingly like those of the Bayou Bozo himself.......do ya think bayourod and H. Dean could be one and the same or victims of in-breeding?
"I'd vote for a RINO before ever voting for any DemocRAT."
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"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence." --John Adams
#63 sir.
Yo quero Taco Bell?
AKA "Loyal American Conservative"
What the FR resident quisling contingent can never be.
Nor should bilingual education or college tuition rates be political tools. All of the children in America represent our future and it is to all of our advantages to educate all of them as best we can, regardless. It's not an Hispanic issue.
NAFTA and CAFTA aren't Hispanic issues. Public health isn't an Hispanic issue.
Republicans don't need to change any substantive policies to appeal to Americans of Hispanic descent that I know of.
We can play politics with political things such as appointing Hispanics to highly visible offices, celebrating Hispanic holidays, recognizing the contributions of Hispanics to our nation, locating government buildings and post offices in Hispanic neighborhoods, running ads in Spanish, hiring more Hispanic police officers, campaigning in Hispanic areas, including Hispanic leaders in public affairs, etc...
By the way, many years ago I was on a committee that oversaw MART. I never heard anyone express an opinion contrary to that of our President at that time, Ronald Reagan. I did get requests on things such as immigration of family members from Mexico and various import and customs problems, recommendations for jobs, college admissions, etc... but not one single policy issue.
Who is this masked man, you might ask . .
¿Quién es este bayourod enmascarado del hombre - el guardabosques o el Tonto solitario?
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Bayourod writes:
" By the way, many years ago I was on a committee that oversaw MART.I never heard anyone express an opinion contrary to that of our President at that time, Ronald Reagan.
I did get requests on things such as immigration of family members from Mexico and various import and customs problems, recommendations for jobs, college admissions, etc... but not one single policy issue.
Roger that, Brother ~ you got it ~ Bump!
Would you like some of my taco, Ms. Lopez?
Mmmmmmm.....taco so goooood....
Who is "we"? The quickest way to get on the wrong side of me is to appoint me to anything because I'm hispanic. I won't have it, even if it means having to turn down the next tony opportunity that comes my way. The day HR is appointed to anything, it had better be because she's the best for the job and not because some politician is trying to play politics and pander to voters.
In my opinion the GOP should tackle this head on by returning to our principles as a color blind party.
Up until 1999 the GOP prided itself on being color blind. One of our principles was that laws and lawmaking and governance should be based on things like merit and need and that skin pigment had nothing to do with either. People were to be judged as individuals, not racial groups. We left the group politics and the racial pandering for the Democrats.
GOP principles have always included things like law and order, national security, national sovereignty, low taxes and small government. Tolerance of illegal immigration violates all of these principles and when that is coupled with racial pandering where we blatantly promote policies which compromise our principles with things like amnesty for lawbreakers just for the sake of buying racial votes you can understand why the GOP rank and file is furious.
We should return to our principles on illegal immigration and use them to BROADEN OUR BASE by appealing to working class people and particularly rank and file union types where we have already been making good inroads due to values issues and 2nd Amendment issues. Our appeal to the working class should be absolutely color blind but it should spell out in no uncertain terms how illegal immigration is the most damaging to the working poor and lower middle class. We should paint the Democrats as betraying this constituency while our tough approach is principled and good for people who work.
Most Hispanics work and some would listen and vote with us. Maybe even some blacks would too. Frankly I am not interested in attracting the Hispanics for whom we need to sacrifice our principles and buy their vote to gain power. What good is power if you have to use it keeping promises that violate your principles. I am not saying that we should not reach out. We should definitely invite them into our party and we should make room for them to participate and advance based on their merit. But they should come into the GOP because they share OUR principles and the should be thought of as Republicans, not hyphenated Hispanic-Republicans.
you should've said menudo.
Oh - - - - CACA!
I'm not sure you are a member of number 3, are you? Her point was not that being lily white - like me - is bad, it's that lumping all hispanics or all Mexicans into a group that must be deported is bad.
My wheels are turning, and I'm already envisioning the mis-matched socks with little elephants that conservatives/Republicans should wear everytime they are going to be on TV to talk about immigration; the theme being "Immigration reform is a color blind issue, and we're the color blind party to handle it".
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