GOP, Immigration, and Latino Voters

Kingsley Guy writes for the South Florida Sentinel Sun:

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist had some savvy advice for his Republican colleagues during the recent Republican Governors Association conference in Miami.

“You have to be inclusive,” Crist said. “You have to work for a big tent. That’s about as obvious as the nose on your face.”

Yet, it’s amazing how many Republicans can’t tell their noses from their tightly shut eyes. Unless GOP leaders, across the board, open their eyes and work to broaden the GOP base, the party could find itself relegated to permanent minority status.

Among those whom the GOP must welcome into the tent are Hispanic voters. George W. Bush and his brother Jeb recognized this. Strong support among Hispanics, the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, helped them win the governorships of Texas and Florida respectively, and for George W., the presidency.

Exit polls indicate that in the 2004 presidential race, President Bush may have won as much as 44 percent of the Hispanic vote. In 2008, the Hispanic vote for GOP candidate John McCain nose-dived to about 31 percent.

The GOP should find the Hispanic defection in Florida particularly troubling. Historically, Republican presidential candidates have carried the Hispanic electorate, for years dominated by Cuban-Americans who supported the GOP’s tough-on-Castro policies. Attitudes are changing, however.

In the 2004 presidential election, 56 percent of Florida’s Hispanic voters chose Bush. This year, 57 percent went for Barack Obama.

The divisive immigration debate, more than anything, soured Hispanic voters on the GOP. Near the end of his first term, President Bush presented a plan for immigration reform that offered a road to legalized status for immigrants living illegally in the United States. Bush’s plan recognized the legitimate labor needs of the country. Click here for the rest of the story.

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