largely Hispanic citizens,” he said in a statement. “That failure has fueled the growth of violent gangs, like MS-13, that prey upon illegals and target the children of Hispanic citizens.” Schmidt criticizes Republicans,
THE MESSAGE Immigrants listen intently to Obama’s immigration speech in January.
fines, back taxes, and a knowledge of English to achieve that status. Some Republicans remained unconvinced. Louisiana Republi- can Sen. David Vitter called the plan “immediate amnesty,” when he was interviewed on The Laura Ingraham Show. Many conservatives want ille- gals to leave the country first, before applying for any type of status in the United States. Steve Schmidt, the GOP commen-
tator, strategist, and adviser to Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid, says harsh GOP rhetoric convinced U.S. Latinos, many of whom are culturally con- servative, that Repub- licans basically did not like them. The Hispanic Leadership Network in January sent an email to House Republicans urg- ing them to tone things down. “Don’t begin with ‘We are against amnesty,” it advised.
R
ep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, an opponent of the bipartisan reform
plan hashed out by eight U.S. senators, including Rubio, apparently missed the memo. “The crush of illegals has bankrupted local governments, shut down hospitals, overwhelmed schools, and crashed local economies, hurting
calling the current political dynamic “a recipe for never being able to win a presidential election again. The depor- tation line of buses to take 11 mil- lion people out of the country would stretch from the San Diego border to Anchorage, Alaska.” Sen. McCain rejects the notion that
the Senate’s plan amounts to amnesty. He told Newsmax in a recent inter- view it will involve “some pretty tough proposals.” Pundit and former Bush adviser
Brad Blakeman tells Newsmax the conservative grass roots is ready to face reality. “When it comes to com- prehensive immigration reform, yeah, it’s got to be sold,” he admits. “But it is certainly saleable.” Speculation is rampant in Wash-
ington that Obama and other Dem- ocrats wouldn’t mind being able to hang the immigration issue around the GOP’s neck for four more years.
Percent of Whites Versus Nonwhites in the Electorate (Presidential Elections 1980–2012) As the make-up of the electorate changes, the GOP’s future will increasingly depend on its ability to attract minority voters.
Electorate 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996
2000 2004 2008 2012
White 89% 87% 85% 87% 83% 81% 77% 74% 72%
Nonwhite 11% 13% 15% 13% 17% 19% 23% 26% 28%
SOURCES: New York Times, CNN Should Obama try to torpedo a
Obama and other Democrats wouldn’t mind being able to hang the immigration issue around the GOP’s neck for four more years.
They could do so by simply oppos-
ing the enforcement triggers — visa tracking, payment of back taxes, learn- ing English, border control — that Republicans insist on before they’ll agree to a compromise. “If Obama wants reform to fail so he
can blame Republicans,” the editors of The Wall Street Journal recently wrote, “the fastest way to do it is by pressing for easy green cards for current illegals with too few strings attached.”
deal by simply insisting on a cake- walk to citizenship, it would almost certainly trigger a grass-roots rebel- lion in the House. “Unless there [are] real enforcement triggers,” Rubio told talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh, “we are not going to have a bill that moves on to the opportunity to apply for a green card.” All of which means Republican hopes of get- ting out from under the immigration millstone
could hinge on the president. If immi- gration reform fails, it probably won’t be due to Republicans, even if they catch the bulk of the blame. GOP pollster Towery says: “We
may not like the way this melting pot has taken place, but we sure can’t undo it. We can’t just take an entire segment of the country and just throw them out in the street . . . and that is the thing I think Republicans are com- ing to realize.”
MARCH 2013 | NEWSMAX 9
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92