>>Alexander Staudt, the treasurer of the University of Iowa College Republicans, also told Mr. Walker in the meet-and-greet line that he was concerned that by talking tough on immigration, Republican candidates would turn off Hispanics.<<
I honestly don’t think you’re ever really going to hear Walker say something akin to “Send them all packing, now!” ever. That’s not the sort of person he is. Besides, that’s the sort of language that does indeed lose the Hispanic vote. Note that the “Hispanic vote,” in normal times (which these are not) is the vote of Hispanic American citizens, citizens who also have every reason to want the wages they work for to be protected from a flood of illegals, regardless the country they’re coming in from.
Again, Walker’s move to reframe the immigration discussion in terms of showing concern for the level of American wages could make some serious inroads into the Hispanic vote. It would be politically foolish of him to sound like he’s in any way berating Hispanics, even those here illegally today. And Walker is no fool when it comes to politics. Quite the opposite, in fact.
He was an IBM salesman before becoming a pol. I expect he understands that certain words and topics are minefields. Having wandered into the minefield of legal immigration, I expect he has war gamed every word and expression, including punctuation, that he might introduce into this discussion.I honestly don’t think you’re ever really going to hear Walker say something akin to “Send them all packing, now!” ever. That’s not the sort of person he is. Besides, that’s the sort of language that does indeed lose the Hispanic vote. Note that the “Hispanic vote,” in normal times (which these are not) is the vote of Hispanic American citizens, citizens who also have every reason to want the wages they work for to be protected from a flood of illegals, regardless the country they’re coming in from.
Again, Walker’s move to reframe the immigration discussion in terms of showing concern for the level of American wages could make some serious inroads into the Hispanic vote. It would be politically foolish of him to sound like he’s in any way berating Hispanics, even those here illegally today. And Walker is no fool when it comes to politics. Quite the opposite, in fact.