Will the GOP ever appeal to Minorities?

[Sbane]

I think it is possible for Republicans to win hispanics and make inroads with blacks. McCain may have bested Bush's percentage of the the hispanic vote were it not for the housing crisis and the financial meltdown in September. If GOP candidates drop the anti-immigrant rhetoric, focus on reforming the immigration system without amnesty, they could make significant inroads amongst hispanics. Also, keep in mind that third generation and further hispanics, if not already having some white in them, begin to vote much like whites do.

I'll explain the blacks later, but I have to go.

I think the anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from the republican party in 2005 changed the minds of many latinos. They liked Bush when he offered comprehensive immigration reform but we all know how that turned out and who's fault it was. They don't necessarily support illegal immigration, but they surely don't want them to be deported if they are law abiding residents. Add to that the prominence of republicans like Tancredo and it might be easy to perceive that republicans are hostile to immigrants. Latinos definitely like Mccain, as evidenced by how well he did with them in Arizona, but their perception of republicans and the economic meltdown caused them to swing in huge numbers to the dems. Even without the meltdown, I doubt Mccain could have done as well as Bush.

95% of GOPers aren't anti-immigrant in the first place. They are anti-illegal immigration which is leaps and bounds different from anti-immigrant.

[Sbane]

It's more of a marketing issue the way I see it. I've run into many blacks and spanish folks that I work with who hold a LOT of conservative ideals but when you mention to them that they should join the other side they have an ingrained trained hatred of the party without knowing many facts. The GOP has rolled over like dogs to the Democrats to much in the past and its' hurting them in the long run.

Frankly a lot of your party is full of bigots, and when a person like Tancredo gets on the national stage you really have to wonder. Minorities just feel uncomfortable in the republican party and it doesn't seem to be getting better. 2004 was a definite improvement with Bush getting 40% of the latino vote, but the xenophobia of the republican masses changed that. And it's not as if that helps with the Asian vote either, a constituency republicans should be winning comfortably.

[Sbane]

In fact, I would say any Republican outside of the deep south and border mid-west isn't racist.

Oh? So all southern republicans are racist huh? Give it a rest already, seriously. Racism has been widespread both in the past and present well outside the borders of the south. As a matter of fact some of the disgustingly racist people I've run into have been from New York and Boston. I know for a fact that my congressman isn't a racist and he's a Southern Republican. As a matter of fact he's Greek and conservative. So please, take your blinders off for once.

He didn't say that.  It's obvious the South is more racist than the rest of the country and there's no way to defend that. 

Then why do more "hate crimes" occur outside the south?

http://www.esquire.com/features/hate-crime-0608

It appears as if states with large metropolitan areas with significant minority populations are the worst.

I apologize if you took my comments personally, I shouldn't have generalized.

That probably has more to do with where hate crime laws are more likely to be enforced and prosecuted as such. And all of those states have a very high minority population both numerically as well as proportionally.

[Sbane]

Speaking of minorities, how much impact would there be if the Jewish population in the United States switched party affiliations from Democrat to Republican, based on President Obama's position regarding Jewish settlement growth on Palestinian territory? 

I highly doubt the Jewish would switch parties just because of that issue. They may shift towards Republicans, but they will still be majority Democrat.

Bush & McCain both supported a more amnesty leaning plan just to get Hispanic support. Personally the GOP can get some hispanic votes, it was just almost impossible in 2008. Possibly some in Nevada & Colorado. Arizona & New Mexico I doubt it.

As President Reagan once said, Latinos are Republicans, they just don't know it yet. Not only are they religious, but, in my experience in a 20% Latino state, they tend to be entrepreneurial and self-reliant. They only become more Republican in the second and third generation Latinos, when they become middle-class and pay more taxes. By the time they reach the fourth generation, they're almost indistinguishable from whites in terms of standard of living and voting patterns.

A friend of mine put it this way. The first generation works in landscaping. The second owns a landscaping business, which allows them to send their third generation children to college.

If Republicans were more empathetic to their situations, supported a guest worker program and the like, without supporting amnesty, they could seize the majority of the Latino vote.

Kicking out people who are already here is unacceptable to Latinos. It reeks of racism frankly. As long as republicans support that they can forget about the Latino vote. Now increasing border enforcement and other common sense measures such as that aren't opposed by Latinos.

[Sbane]

Speaking of minorities, how much impact would there be if the Jewish population in the United States switched party affiliations from Democrat to Republican, based on President Obama's position regarding Jewish settlement growth on Palestinian territory? 

I highly doubt the Jewish would switch parties just because of that issue. They may shift towards Republicans, but they will still be majority Democrat.

Bush & McCain both supported a more amnesty leaning plan just to get Hispanic support. Personally the GOP can get some hispanic votes, it was just almost impossible in 2008. Possibly some in Nevada & Colorado. Arizona & New Mexico I doubt it.

As President Reagan once said, Latinos are Republicans, they just don't know it yet. Not only are they religious, but, in my experience in a 20% Latino state, they tend to be entrepreneurial and self-reliant. They only become more Republican in the second and third generation Latinos, when they become middle-class and pay more taxes. By the time they reach the fourth generation, they're almost indistinguishable from whites in terms of standard of living and voting patterns.

A friend of mine put it this way. The first generation works in landscaping. The second owns a landscaping business, which allows them to send their third generation children to college.

If Republicans were more empathetic to their situations, supported a guest worker program and the like, without supporting amnesty, they could seize the majority of the Latino vote.

Kicking out people who are already here is unacceptable to Latinos. It reeks of racism frankly. As long as republicans support that they can forget about the Latino vote. Now increasing border enforcement and other common sense measures such as that aren't opposed by Latinos.

Frankly, if French-Canadians were sneaking across the northern border and illegally taking jobs from Americans, I would want to deport them as well. Amnesty is not fair to Latinos who played by the rules to enter the country.

What is racist about kicking foreigners out of the country who broke the law. Now, Latinos who qualify for a guest-worker program of some sort should be allowed to stay (I know many Republican pols don't share this view, but some do). However, the ones who went in and essentially by passed the immigration process broke the law, and giving them amnesty is a slap in the face to those who came here legally.

I know they broke the law but did they have any another choice? Do you see the local Mcdonalds or farmer sponsoring immigrants? Sure a lot of Mexicans immigrate here legally after being sponsored by family members or employers. But what if you are poor and don't have family in the United states or don't have a lot of skills? For them the only route is illegal immigration. It's not as if anyone who wants to get in the US is allowed to. You say that they by passed the immigration process, but in reality there was no immigration process for them.

Most Latinos (actually immigrants from anywhere) realize this and thus have empathy for these illegals while most Americans don't. Most of them are hard working people who had no other choice. I absolutely believe it is important that we make sure we verify who these people are and I also don't think they should be made citizens overnight. But we should at least give them the opportunity to become residents. They should follow the same route that legal immigrants do and get a green card and then citizenship (usually about a 10 year process). So they wouldn't be "cutting in line". If we follow this up by allowing low skill labor a legal avenue of coming to America and more border enforcement, we might reduce the problem somewhat.

[Sbane]

I am not talking about encouraging or subsidizing it. I am just recognizing the reasons for illegal immigration and why these people had to break the law. I just want to give them a path to citizenship and at the same time try and reduce future illegal immigration.