[highball]

Reagan won w/o the Hispanic vote.

That was over thirty years ago. A very different country.

I'm not saying we have to Hispander, but we do have to make our case to them convincingly. All the saber-rattling hinders that, and turns off a demographic that we could win on the issues.

[Sun]

“That was over thirty years ago. ..”

Not much more than a mere three MONTHS ago, Romney lost millions of Republican votes. Many were focused on getting the Independent votes, and Romney GOT those Independent votes, and still LOST the election.

Sure, it doesn’t hurt to get the Hispanic (or Independent) votes, but let’s not lose sight that there are MORE votes in the base that we could lose and HAVE lost.

[Pelham]

“All the saber-rattling hinders that, and turns off a demographic that we could win on the issues. “

I take it that ‘saber-rattling’ translates as ‘sending foreign nationals back to their own country’ or ‘enforcing the law’, something that comes in a distant second to ethnic pandering in your mind.

[SuziQ]

I'm not saying we have to Hispander, but we do have to make our case to them convincingly.

Exactly; the same as they have to do with conservatives. Make the case and win their vote. If they simply lay out the case that a smaller government and the stronger economy that results from it are the best thing for themselves and their families, they'll win plenty of those voters. And that won't happen unless they go to where those voters are and talk to them.