Posted on 12/03/2015 6:19:10 PM PST by VinL
Lindsey Graham on Thursday delivered a scathing rebuke of Republican candidates.. especially Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump ..for alienating Hispanic and female voters with "hard-ass" policies and hateful rhetoric.
"How many of you believe that we’re losing elections because we're not hard-ass enough on immigration?" Graham asked during his speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington, D.C.
A few people in the room clapped, and Graham responded: "Well, I don’t agree with you. I believe we are losing the Hispanic vote because they think we don't like them"â€
Graham hit back hard on the Texas Republican senator's remarks that opened the RJC forum, during which Cruz argued that the Republican Party would never beat Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton with a moderate or centrist nominee. As part of his answer to a question on how to sway pro choice voters to support him in the general election, Cruz mentioned the need to turn out more evangelical voters.
"I believe that it is not about turning out evangelical Christians," Graham said. "It is about repairing the damage done by incredibly hateful rhetoric driving a wall between us and the fastest-growing demographic in America, who should be Republicans."
Graham’s speech wasn't the one he planned, he said .. he had intended to talk about his most recent trip to Iraq and his foreign policy strategy.
"I’ll get there in a minute," he said, "but after Mr. Cruz, I want to talk to you about winning an election."
Cruz's strategy of playing to the conservative base is setting the party up for oblivion, Graham said. Instead, Republicans should focus on bringing new voters into the fold, he said.
"It's about looking the Hispanic American in the eye and saying, 'We get it. You're pro-life, you're entrepreneurial, you're hard working, you're very patriotic,'" Graham said. "'Be part of our cause.'"
He also knocked Republican voters for letting leading candidates off the hook for inflammatory statements. "Do you want to win this election?" Graham asked the crowd. "Well, start taking everything that we say seriously.. and push back when we make absolutely no sense."
Graham took aim at businessman Donald Trump for his tone on illegal immigration, arguing that he’s pushing voters away from the Republican party. "I believe Donald Trump is destroying Republicans' chance to win an election that we can’t afford to lose," Graham said.
Mitt Romney made a mistake when promoting the idea of self deportation as a presidential candidate, Graham said. And now, Trump has taken the idea even farther, he added.
"Now it's not self deportation, it's forced deportation," Graham continued. "We're literally going to round them up. That sound familiar to you? Every one of them, including their American citizen children. That's the leader of the Republican Party."
Many in the Republican Party have a problem with female voters because of their stances on abortion, Graham argued.. for example, not allowing an exception in cases of rape or incest alienates most Americans, he said. "If the nominee of the Republican party will not allow for an exception for rape and incest, they will not win,†he said. "Ted Cruz doesn’t have an exception for rape or incest."
The general election will become a debate about abortion .. rather than the threat from the Islamic State or other foreign policy concerns.. if that's the nominee's stance, Graham said.
"It will be about the nominee of the Republican Party telling a woman who's been raped, you’ve got to carry the child of the rapist," Graham said. "Good luck with that."
At this point, Graham noted that he hadn't planned to go after Cruz and Trump, but he felt the need to react to Cruz's speech.
"Not the speech you thought you were going to hear, right? Not the speech I thought I was going to give," Graham said. "But he didn't answer the question. … I am going to answer the question: We will lose if that's the position of the nominee of the Republican Party. We will lose young women in droves."
Enforcing a law is hard-ass? We might as well not even have laws if our own elected officials see no purpose in them.
If people thought Trump and Cruz would lose to the Democrats, they wouldn’t be LEADING THE PACK right now, Linda.
Speaking of losing to Democrats, just how well have your buddies done in the past 2 elections?
Lindsey. Maybe Trump doesn’t have the right ‘formula’. Maybe Cruz doesn’t either. However, clearly your friend McCain didn’t have the right formula. Romney didn’t have the right formula. However, Reagan did have the right formula. To which of these is the ‘rhetoric’ of which you speak most reminiscent of? It’s not about finding a formula of balanced appeasement. It’s about standing for something, and being honest about it.
Those who are attracted to Democrats aren’t going to vote for Republicans who try to act like Democrats. Why should they when they can have an actual Democrat? Hispanics who want open borders and amnesty are going to vote Democrat, even if you’re the nominee and say all ‘the right things’ to them. You are the one who doesn’t get it.
Thanks for admitting you don’t believe anything you say and only say what you think will get you votes.
Graham would cheerlead for NAMBLA if he thought child molesters were a significant voting bloc.
He can't get over the polls consistently (as in every one of them) showing that he has no support and that in fact, "He will lose."
Well, what else would you expect from a F.A.G.?
How many Hispanics are on your staff, Lindsey? Wait. Let me rephrase that. On your payroll.
This is one conservative Jew the Southern Princess can’t fool.
If Hispanics want to be part of America, we welcome them. If they want to be “No go Zones”, “gangbangers”, and “Irredentists”, NOPE.
My grandparents didn’t flee the Pogroms in Russia to become “Russians” in America. They came because they wanted to become “Americans”.
We need another Jessie Helms in the South, not a “Headley” Lamar.
If Graham The Cracker doesn’t understand this, then let him pledge allegiance to Jeff Davis and his cause.
“...because we’re not hard-ass enough on immigration?”
Linda’s attempt at macho talk. But all he has, is talk.
Ann Coulter wrote a whole book debunking that myth, Linda.
Notice he doesn’t debate Cruz, he attacks him after Cruz has given his speech. I would love to see him head to head with Cruz. He go crying to the ladies room.
What has Cruz done to promote such wrath? I understand why Trump is stirring things up and attacking poor Lindsay.
Suck up to Hispanics and maybe get 1% more of them to vote RINO while losing 90% of the base. Yes, this will really work out good.
The base staying home is how obama got elected twice. This jackass must really want Hitlery to be President.
Well, Lindsey, we’d rather be RIGHT than President.
I’d rather chase a rabbit and fail than chase a skunk and catch him.
D. Boone
What has Cruz done to promote such wrath
***************
Winning. -:)
WQhat a fricking RINO. We Know exactly where they stand now.
A kinder , gentler, immigration policy is going to win us more hispanic votes?
On what planet?
Says Mr. 0 per cent in the polls.
Cruz garnered 40% of the Hispanic vote in Texas against his Democrat opponent, whereas Romney received 33% of the Hispanic vote against Obama.
Another interesting result of the poll taken six weeks after the 2012 general election found 68% percent of Texas Hispanics support increasing border security as part of immigration reforms, 10% opposed it and 20% were indifferent.
Ted Cruz will do just fine with the Hispanic vote compared to moderate losers the GOPe prefers.
We're losing elections because so many Republican "representatives" are ass-hats like Graham....
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