A new report out confirms something I have observed. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans really understand Hispanic voters. Both go by stereotypes when dealing with Americans of Hispanic roots. Many Republicans assume Hispanics are all illegal brown uneducated people. The Democrats think Hispanic are helpless and need their protection. Both views fly in the face of reality.
The pressures against immigration reform are so obvious they’re almost cliché. Most Republican politicians fear revolt from amnesty-loathing conservatives. Many Democrats see strategic advantage in keeping the wedge issue alive.
What our leaders don’t see (or refused to acknowledge) are the false assumptions built into their positions, and the powerful incentives for both sides to compromise. They should read this report from Third Way, a Democrat think-tank with enough intellectual honesty to analyze data irrespective of its party bias.
Despite their rising political power, both Republicans and Democrats have tended to misrepresent Hispanic America.
Many Republicans view Hispanics as undocumented, poor, and unwilling to assimilate. But the data shows that Hispanics are overwhelmingly citizens and legal residents and have broadly adopted American values. Many Democrats emphasize immigration as the sole issue of importance to the community and assume Hispanics are liberals. But Hispanics are concerned with issues beyond immigration and hold complex—and often conservative views—on a number of issues.
The report’s author, demographer Michelle Diggles, warned her own party, “Hispanics are not born liberal Democrats.” While President Obama won the Hispanic vote in 2012 by 44 points, a majority of Hispanics identified at independents and only 32 percent as Democrats.
[….]
There’s more to worry Democrats in the report, including a “potential flashpoint” over religion. “Democrats cannot be complacent and should work to deepen their connections with the Hispanic community beyond immigration,” she wrote.
[….]About 17 percent of Hispanics are undocumented immigrants, according to her analysis, a number that has fallen sharply in recent years. “Despite the lower levels of undocumented immigrants among the Hispanic community, the anti-Hispanic rhetoric unleashed by Republicans when they speak of immigration impacts the community writ large,”
Amnesty is not the solution for Republicans t0 attract his panic voters. But the GOP’s current policy of tolerating bigoted know nothing baboons like Ann Coulter is not the answer either. Personally I could care less what the Republican Party does as they are not a serious political entity. They don’t even try to win over their own voters, let alone new ones.
