[Polybius]

According to Ken Mehlman -- the Republicans can't win the White House without Hispanic support. If you believe that -- do you think we should postpone some of the more draconian political posturing about immigration -- until after the 2008 elections? Or is the immigration issue more important than winning the Whitehouse?

Or, better yet, why not stop thinking of anybody with a Spanish surname as being synonymous with an illegal alien and with illegal alien interests?

Tancredo totally alienated the broken-glass Republicans of Cuban descent in Miami by his anti-Hispanic immigrant slurs which is quite ironic for someone whose Italian immigrant ancestors obviously did not arrive on the Mayflower.

Italian immigrants at Ellis Island

When you frame the debate in terms of law and order, Americans of Hispanic descent can respect that. Even Mexicans in Mexico can respect that since Mexico has very tough illegal alien laws.

Once the debate is framed in a way that anti-illegal alien is synonymous with anti-legal Hispanic immigrant or just plain anti-Hispanic, you lose voters by the millions.

[ExpandNATO]

...which is quite ironic for someone whose Italian immigrant ancestors obviously did not arrive on the Mayflower.

What is ironic? Perhaps in Tancredo's case the melting pot worked and assimilation actually occurred and he identifies more with the Mayflower and the United States than with diversity and the universal/proposition nation bit.