Posted on 04/04/2006 7:42:56 AM PDT by SmithL
Washington -- California history haunts the Republican civil war raging over immigration that is scheduled to come to a head Friday in a Senate vote.
In 1994, California's Republican Gov. Pete Wilson won a tight re-election race by backing a popular anti-illegal-immigrant measure known as Proposition 187, and he lost his party's grasp on the nation's biggest political prize by alienating Hispanic voters.
The alarm now gripping many in the party, not least the White House, is that history could repeat itself in the teetering red states on which GOP victories depend: Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and others with fast-growing Latino populations.
Washington has its own version of Prop. 187, known as the Sensenbrenner bill after its author, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. It passed the House in December and would, among other things, make illegal immigrants felons and build a 700-mile fence on the border with Mexico.
This week Senate Republicans -- including at least four potential presidential hopefuls, evenly split on the issue -- may decide whether to allow that measure to represent the party's position on immigration or to embrace a bipartisan Senate bill that takes the opposite approach, offering an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants the chance to obtain permanent U.S. residence and allowing upwards of 400,000 more to do so each year under a guest worker plan.
"This is a defining moment for the Republican Party," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who supports the Senate bill, said over the weekend. "If our answer to the fastest-growing demographic in this country is that 'We want to make felons of your grandparents, and we want to put people in jail who are helping your neighbors and people related to you,' then we're going to suffer mightily."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Where's their concern about alienating the citizens who put them in office? Any talk of that has yet to hit my ears.
If the illegal immigrants had taken the opportunity to get involved in the politics of their homelands, they wouldn't have had to come to America. I don't see why they should become all civic minded when they visit another country.
Best to end social assistance now since it is just a way for Demcorats to buy votes with favors.
I always love to see where 'they' are afraid of stirring up a certain block of voters. What about the largest block of voters???? You know the American citizens??? Sure seems 'they' are unconcerned about about rocking that voting block.
Simply amazing.
The Hispanics who are most likely to be attracted to the Republican party are those who share Republican ideas about taxes, self-reliance, and moral issues — and who are not inclined to evaluate politics primarily from the standpoint of the interests of their ethnic group. They are also more likely to vote Republican the more they have assimilated. Adding more than a million new Hispanic immigrants to their neighborhoods every year will not help.
Sheana I really don't think they understand how many people this illegal immigration issue is alienating.
By people in this context I mean American citizens that believe in the rule of law AND its enforcment.
I feel the same way you do about this.
Its a sound strategy. The RNC is betting that the faithful will just hold their noses and vote Republican anyway. My money says they're right. What are ya gonna do, vote Democrat?
Carl Rove figures that the GOP base is going to vote GOP no matter what. He knows the GOP base will not vote D, so he figures he's got you by the short hairs. LOL, the only real worry is that many GOP voters might just stay home on election day. But probably not, so once again he's got you by the short hairs and he knows it.
The only real hope is changing the GOP in the primaries.
Then again, maybe it has.
----
Nothing matters...unless they CLOSE THE BORDER.
I guess the Republican philosophy pre-supposes that legal Mexican immigrants are in favor of illegal immigration.
I imagine some are and some aren't. They should find out how many are of each opinion before they stake their platform on it.
"how stupid can they be?"
I guess their depending on people like the Bush bots to "remind" everybody that there's nowhere else for them to go.
Is it all just stupidity or are we seeing a new definition of the term "domestic enemy" being created here with so many of these pols selling us out to the reconquista gang?
I will vote republican but NOT the ones in office.
The new arrivals have a third-world, banana republic heritage. The irony is--this may be the very thing that brings down the two-party system in the US. "La Raza" party, Socialist Party, conservative Pary, GOP, DNC...?
The Hispanders love to trot this one out. But it is pretty lame. The Republican Majority in California was lost by the Reagan Amnesty. Consider that between 1952 and 1988, California voted Republican in every election except 1964 (9 out of 10). Beginning in 1992, which is two years before Proposition 187, California became a blue state and has not voted for the Republicans since. And recall that Arnold Schwarzenegger won the Davis recall election in-part by promising to repeal the Driver's Licenses for Illegals bill that Davis passed as a bit of hopeless hispandering.
Amnesty in 1986 cost the Republicans California. Amnesty in 2006 will cost us Colorado and Florida and possibly Texas and Arizona. It sure won't get us anything (except even bigger losses) in New York or Illinois or Massachusetts which are the blue states with lots of Hispanics.
All amnesty will do is create vast numbers of new voters for the Democrats.
My wife is a native-born citizen of hispanic ancestry. She voted for Bush twice.
And she says we need to throw the illegals out. And she no longer support's Bush's agenda because of his pandering to the illegal immigration interests.
The GOP is going to suffer mightily, Graham. But for the exact opposite reasons you are stating. If you keep illegals ILLEGAL, they won't be able to friggin' vote - and the native-born and legally-entered hispanic population of this country will largely support that. But betray the base, and there will be woe for the GOP.
Present Hispanic citizens have their wages lowered more than anyone else by illegals.
yes but the irony of the whole thing is they can stay home, write in candidates, or just leave blank spots on their ballots......and feel vindicated. Apparently the GOP hasn't thought of those options yet.
Then we can enjoy the results as we watch two solid years of impeachment hearings, higher taxes and socialist indoctrination. And you could care less.
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