In Part 1, I put some of the latest Pew Latino polling on the table and argue that the Republican base has a problem with the left, not with Hispanics per se. I argue that Governor Pete Wilson’s Prop 187 was a mistake and that a necessary but not sufficient prerequisite is to insist our elected officials in safe, citadel districts stop bashing Hispanics with anti-immigration rhetoric.
Immigrant bashing is foolish and immoral politics. It doesn’t work. In 2012 the CRP imploded in part because we have a huge Latino problem. But the CRP is uniquely positioned to lead the Republican Party out of the abyss because of our demographics and the current crisis in our state.
John Sieler argues, “It’s true the GOP is having problems attracting Latino voters. It’s likely to continue to do so no matter what it does. Voting patterns generally are locked in for families and ethnic groups for generations.” Wrong! Dead wrong.
In 2004 President George W. Bush got 44 percent of the Latino vote, the highest in history for a Republican. At the same time he got the second largest turnout of the base in the history of exit polling. And cutting edge social science says Latinos are not yet fully captured by the Democrats though time is very short. At the risk of Quinn’s graveyard the GOP must fight for Latino votes.
So how do we lead conservatism out of the demographic abyss? By returning to our roots with the base while at the same time bringing Latinos on board.
We need a well-funded, well-organized program to create Latino candidates. Not town halls and photo ops, not pious platitudes and the same old operators, this time for real.
This time, we need a small skunk works of researchers, pollsters, micro-targeters, demographers, media experts, political thinkers, candidate scouts and trainers who can quickly create a robust program to take the ball from the Democrats. The goal should be to duplicate the 44% high water mark of GWB within two election cycles by fighting in all districts. There are no cycles to waste. There is still time for a major push on target CDs, SDs and ADs in 2014 if we hit the ground running. With the right program and candidates 2016 will be a banner year.
The base will come roaring on board when Latinos are pried away from the Democrats. The Tea Party will proudly support Latino vets as candidates. Social conservatives will pour out of the churches to volunteer for pro-life Latinos. The borders will be controlled and the giveaways will end when the immigrant flood no longer creates lockstep Democrat voters. Democrats are cynical, but not stupid.
And neither are Republican funders stupid. With a full court press for Latinos, funders can be approached with the proposition, “Put 10% to 20% of your normal contribution into an off cycle CRP-blessed skunk works. Instead of funding low quality candidates, incumbent protection or long shots at the last minute, fund high quality candidate creation. Get in on the ground floor for a fraction of the cost. Create a Latino bench.”
What are the roots I’m proposing we return to? The classic three legged stool of conservatism; fiscal, social and security issues within a coalition. But we need to break through ideological logjams and embrace new versions of the old ideas that will cause consternation for some. We need to be pragmatic, fully aware we’re out of power and distrusted by Latinos. And most important, we need to avoid purity battles. Purity battles are mortally dangerous to a fractured, disheartened party. The danger of shrinking to a political cult are very real.
The California Republican Party needs leaders deeply in tune with the base and in tune with new coalition members like Latinos, bold leaders who see the future clearly and take us there. One such political leader in his farewell address to America said:
“I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.”
Ronald Reagan. 1989. The Oval Office.