Winning Hispanics

It has been widely reported that Harry Reid's victory was due in large measure to high Hispanic turnout that went 90% Democrat. Even if that is an exaggeration, that Hispanics seem to favor Democrats in the west is an impediment to Republicans ever having a chance in California.

My fellow SLOB, Sarah Bond, has said that we need to reach out to Hispanics and I agree. But we have to get the border actually secured as a prerequisite. This may sound counter-intuitive, but doing so takes the anti-illegal issue off the table. Hispanics wrongly believe that it is a symptom of racism in the Republican party, even though it is a reflection of the desire for the rule of law. But if the border were actually secured, we could lead the fight for a fair and comprehensive reform of immigration. This would give the lie to the racism argument. Hispanics, who don’t seems particularly enamored of Democrat positions on abortion, gay marriage and burdening small businesses would move to the GOP in sufficient numbers to totally wreck the Democrat coalition.

Comprehensive reform is needed, failure to deliver if we do secure the border would be a big mistake, but securing the border is the necessary down payment to earn the public trust.