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Riordanism Won't Work--But Proves Hispanic Conservatism a Myth
Center for American Unity ^ | 2/6/02 | Steven Salier

Posted on 02/06/2002 5:36:18 AM PST by traditionalist

We have been told for years by ?conservative? immigration enthusiasts that Hispanics are natural cultural conservatives who will-Real Soon Now-flock to the electoral aid of the Republican Party in its culture war with liberals. The current gubernatorial primary campaign in California is providing more evidence that this is w-r-o-n-g.

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TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: michaeldobbs
If our present immigration continues, the Republican party will look more and more like Richard Riordan.
1 posted on 02/06/2002 5:36:18 AM PST by traditionalist
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To: traditionalist
I agree with part of your statement. However, I live in Northern California and I have a slightly different view on Hispanics than my Southern California brothers and sisters.

I have found that NEW Hispanic immigrants AND L.A./Orange County Hispanics ARE definitely liberal. They are the ones who rally, protest, complain, and want.

However, in Northern California Hispanics -- who are generally 3rd, 4th, 5th generation -- are far more conservative, put social issues like abortion at the forefront, are devout, and work hard. They are friends and neighbors and good people.

I will not jump on the anti-Hispanic bandwagon. I am staunchly opposed to illegal immigration -- yes, there is a major problem with immigration that MUST be solved -- and Bill Simon had the best response at the last debate when he talked about tougher border control.

But we need to realize that California is such a diverse and different state. We really should be six states. I sympathize with the major problems L.A. and Orange Counties have experience because of the very real immigration problem, a problem that must be fixed. At the same time, I commend the immigrants who have come here through legal channels and are contributing to the betterment of society and their individual families.

God bless.

2 posted on 02/06/2002 5:46:29 AM PST by Gophack
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To: traditionalist
You are speaking of CALIFORNIA Hispanics. Up here in Illinois we get the Texas variety---hard-working, tax-paying, family-oriented and definitely with a strong conservative bent. This is a plum that is already falling into Republican, conservative Republican, hands. Poor Daschle.
3 posted on 02/06/2002 5:53:13 AM PST by cookcounty
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To: Gophack
I agree with your statement about 4-5th generation Hispanics. You also seem to agree that new Hispanic immigration is bad for the GOP. Does it not then stand to reason that the best policy is to cut off immigration so that those new Hispanics can be made to resemble the ones whose families have been here for generations?
4 posted on 02/06/2002 9:13:13 AM PST by traditionalist
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To: *calgov2002
bump
5 posted on 02/06/2002 9:17:04 AM PST by Free the USA
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To: cookcounty
In less than a generation, Hispanics will be accultured and absorbed like all the other ethnic groups which came here. A good many of them are already.

A lot of the more recent ones are Democrats as are all the illegals. Hispanics represent not a monoculture as we Anglos so often perceive them, but a multiplicity of cultures. Mexicans are not the same as Puerto Ricans, and Colombians and Hondurans are also different. Although they have a common heritage and common langauge, there are dialectical and social distinctions among all of them, not readily apparent to Anglo-Americans.

But basically, most Hispanics, or the ones I met, have a value system based on a strong nuclear family, a strong sense of morality and honor, a powerful work ethnic, a head for business and a desire to achieve and are, accordingly, more in tune with Republican values than Democratic ones

In the long run, time will bear this out - with careful Republican grooming.

6 posted on 02/06/2002 9:25:54 AM PST by ZULU
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To: Gophack
I totally agree with your statements. Having only lived in NorCal, I was always puzzled by the complaints and anger directed at Mexicans coming out of the south, since up here, they split evenly between Republican and Democrat. Then I went south for a while. The fact is, though, that assimilation works to draw Hispanics into our party. After three generations, they vote conservative in the same proportions as whites, which, in the long run, should have the Dems VERY nervous.
7 posted on 02/06/2002 10:51:06 AM PST by TheAngryClam
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To: cookcounty
we get the Texas variety---hard-working, tax-paying, family-oriented and definitely with a strong conservative bent

Until they're "organized" by the IAF, anyway.

Connecting People to Politics: The Role of Religious Institutions in the Texas IAF Network

8 posted on 02/06/2002 10:55:06 AM PST by Askel5
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To: traditionalist
I see that denial is still strongly at work within the GOP. Every attempt will be made to magnify the exceptions to the rule, rather than to examine the rule itself. The fact remains that current immigration patterns overburdens and destabilizes our country, and gives the worst political elements in our society more votes.

Citing 3rd or 4th generation hispanics proves the rule in fact: these people were assimilated at a time when we were still relatively sane, conservative, and nationalistic. Today, what kind of culture are the new immigrants going to be "assimilated" into, assuming they are in fact assimilated? And can we really afford to wait another 3 or 4 generations to find out?

Modern immigration patterns are a kind of negative reinforcement loop: immigration empowers the forces of political correctness, counter-cultural forces, and the welfare state. The welfare state and the politically correct and counter-cultural types, in turn, lobby for more immigration and the de facto non-enforcement of our existing immigration laws.

Now, obviously, these people know something most of our average "in denial" GOP types don't know, or refuse to admit. The enemy knows what it is doing. It is no accident that our polical system only gives us a choice between the Evil Party and the Stupid Party. One hopes it is not too late for the Stupid Party to stop being stupid.

9 posted on 02/06/2002 12:22:08 PM PST by Vast Buffalo Wing Conspiracy
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To: ZULU; TheAngryClam
But basically, most Hispanics, or the ones I met, have a value system based on a strong nuclear family, a strong sense of morality and honor, a powerful work ethnic, a head for business and a desire to achieve and are, accordingly, more in tune with Republican values than Democratic ones

I agree with you. I think that it's important to separate ILLEGAL immigration from LEGAL immigration. I want good, moral people in our country who work, pay taxes, and love America. I don't want people who break the law at the beginning ... by crossing our borders illegally ... and end up in our schools, in our hospitals, and not loving our country.

I believe that American IS a melting pot, that we are ONE NATION UNDER GOD. We are NOT a bunch of separate cultures all living within the same boundary. Immigrants legally coming to our country who assimilate into America are welcome; those coming illegal into our country who want to retain their individual culture are not.

I believe that stronger border control will ultimately help stop the anti-Hispanic feelings because eventually, the only people here will be here legally, and they will love this country like we do. They will, ultimately, be Americans.

10 posted on 02/06/2002 12:32:36 PM PST by Gophack
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To: Gophack
I agree with EVERY word you said.
11 posted on 02/06/2002 12:52:05 PM PST by ZULU
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To: Vast Buffalo Wing Conspiracy
There are really THREE issues here:

1) Alien invaders (or, in current political doublespeak - "undocumented immigrants")

2) Legal immigrants

3) Our immigration policy (or lack of one)

12 posted on 02/06/2002 12:54:46 PM PST by ZULU
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To: Gophack
Don't kid yourself into thinking illegal immigration is the only problem (though it is indeed a problem all its own). Our current immigration law is allowing over ONE MILLION people in per year, LEGALLY. Most of those Mexican immigrants at the LA Coloseum who booed and threw objects at the US soccer team were LEGAL. The 60%+ of California Hispanics who supported bilingual education in 1998 were LEGAL. The problem is not merely one of legal vs. illegal; the problem is too many people immigrating at once, at a time when all the institutions of assimilation have broken down.

How are we supposed to assimilate immigrant kids when all the history books used in our public schools are laced with anti-American propaganda? How can we assimilate them when Hispanic community leaders openly speak of a Mexican reconquista of the Southwest? How can assimlation happen when LEGAL immigrants can live in large ghettos (East LA, Spanish Harlem, etc.) where they don't need to speak any English? What incentives do they have to assimilate when they can be allowed dual citizenship, or when they can get ballots (BALLOTS!) printed in Spanish?

If you think the melting pot is working, you're living in a dream world.

13 posted on 02/07/2002 7:50:30 AM PST by traditionalist
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