Was there something certain hispanics didn't like about John Kerry?

[Matty]

or did GWB just do a good job reaching out to them in 04? Was that impressive 40% that W got due to his own campaigning skills, or was it due to a certain mistake by JK?

[Sumner 1868]

I think it was probably Bush's vague promises of immigration reform earlier that year.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Pope John Paul was the last pope to be involved in politics, and he got involved on the SSM and abortion debate. But, alot of Latinos are turning towards evangelicalism, they are become more secular. Latinas instead of male counterpart are becoming more political.

[Thunderbird is the word]

I remember around the time of the first immigration debacle in 2006 people were loudly debating the issue on the school bus and one hispanic kid said to another "Bush is on our side on this" and he said "Go Bush then!" I don't think Republicans were really so monolithic on immigration until the Tea Party came along which is probably why hispanics have tilted towards the Democrats.

[Sumner 1868]

I remember around the time of the first immigration debacle in 2006 people were loudly debating the issue on the school bus and one hispanic kid said to another "Bush is on our side on this" and he said "Go Bush then!" I don't think Republicans were really so monolithic on immigration until the Tea Party came along which is probably why hispanics have tilted towards the Democrats.

I think the right simply let it go because the president had an R, kind of like how long much of the left has let go civil liberties under Obama just because he's a Democrat.

[Thunderbird is the word]

I remember around the time of the first immigration debacle in 2006 people were loudly debating the issue on the school bus and one hispanic kid said to another "Bush is on our side on this" and he said "Go Bush then!" I don't think Republicans were really so monolithic on immigration until the Tea Party came along which is probably why hispanics have tilted towards the Democrats.

I think the right simply let it go because the president had an R, kind of like how long much of the left has let go civil liberties under Obama just because he's a Democrat.

Good point, that combined with the economy. I could be wrong but I don't think that there was as much anti-immigrant sentiment in the GOP in the 90s, back then it seems like they were more just focused on crime and budgetary issues.

[Sumner 1868]

I remember around the time of the first immigration debacle in 2006 people were loudly debating the issue on the school bus and one hispanic kid said to another "Bush is on our side on this" and he said "Go Bush then!" I don't think Republicans were really so monolithic on immigration until the Tea Party came along which is probably why hispanics have tilted towards the Democrats.

I think the right simply let it go because the president had an R, kind of like how long much of the left has let go civil liberties under Obama just because he's a Democrat.

Good point, that combined with the economy. I could be wrong but I don't think that there was as much anti-immigrant sentiment in the GOP in the 90s, back then it seems like they were more just focused on crime and budgetary issues.

Western Republicans sure campaigned on immigration during 1994-1998. Unsure about the GOP as a whole.

[hopper]

I remember around the time of the first immigration debacle in 2006 people were loudly debating the issue on the school bus and one hispanic kid said to another "Bush is on our side on this" and he said "Go Bush then!" I don't think Republicans were really so monolithic on immigration until the Tea Party came along which is probably why hispanics have tilted towards the Democrats.

First off its illegal immigration that makes Republicans upset not legal immigration. Republicans are for legal immigration.

I will just comment on immigration reform in 2007 that Bush W. tried to push through. I think it was "Conservative Talk Radio"(mainly Rush Limbaugh)  that blocked immigration reform in 2007. That's when the GOP Base got paranoid about illegal immigrants not when The Tea Party became a factor in Republican Politics in Spring of 2009.

[Thunderbird is the word]

I remember around the time of the first immigration debacle in 2006 people were loudly debating the issue on the school bus and one hispanic kid said to another "Bush is on our side on this" and he said "Go Bush then!" I don't think Republicans were really so monolithic on immigration until the Tea Party came along which is probably why hispanics have tilted towards the Democrats.

First off its illegal immigration that makes Republicans upset not legal immigration. Republicans are for legal immigration.

I will just comment on immigration reform in 2007 that Bush W. tried to push through. I think it was "Conservative Talk Radio"(mainly Rush Limbaugh)  that blocked immigration reform in 2007. That's when the GOP Base got paranoid about illegal immigrants not when The Tea Party became a factor in Republican Politics in Spring of 2009.

Actually I do remember that. It was common to hear conservatives say something to the effect of "I agree with Bush on everything except immigration!" in the last year or so of his presidency.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Another factor is that Bush spoke Spanish and Kerry didn't. He spoke it with a thick Texas accent of course, but he tried and it mattered.