How a Political Party Commits Suicide, Cont.

Well, this isn't much of a surprise: strategists indicate that the GOP is hurting itself with anti-immigrant rhetoric in the run up to the 2012 general election campaign.

But immigrant-rights groups and some political watchers say the damage may be irreversible. They argue that the GOP has severely hampered itself as it looks to woo the critical Latino voting bloc that could decide who wins key states like New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Florida next fall.

Such a political mistake has been in the making for the last six years, since the battle over comprehensive immigration reform heated up in the last years of the George W. Bush administration. Then, in a Georgia Southern publication, I wrote that the GOP was making a serious mistake if it didn't listen to John McCain and President Bush on immigration reform.  Scaring off millions of voters in order to placate an aging political base is not a good idea. Yet, since the start of the Obama administration, despite his own struggles with the Latino voting bloc, friction has grown between Republicans and Latinos.

Despite the growth in deportations under President Obama, many Latinos still support the president and the Democratic Party, which cannot be good news for the GOP in 2012:

The survey also showed that the gap between Latinos identifying as Democrats and those identifying as Republicans has widened over the last few years. In 2008, 65% of Latino registered voters surveyed by Pew identified themselves as Democrats while 26% identified as Republicans. Now, the Democratic share has risen to 67% while the GOP share has dropped to 20% — a finding that could be explained by increased registration among foreign-born Latinos, who lean more strongly to Democrats than do the native-born.

If voter enthusiasm among Democrats is anywhere near what it was in 2008, President Obama may yet win re-election. Right now, there's not much passion about Mitt Romney among conservative voters, more of a shrug of the shoulders that he is naturally the nominee this year. But with Romney referring to the DREAM Act, which once had widespread bi-partisan support, as a "handout", GOP strategists realize counting on a larger swath of the Latino vote this time around will be difficult.


The Republican Party can't continue like this. It may yet be in the best interests of their party, and of the nation, if they are routed at the polls this November. Otherwise it'll take a while longer before they come up with candidates who support sensible programs for the 21st century.