Every political observer has known for years that Hispanic voters tend to be socially conservative and therefore potential recruits for the Republican party. Instead, Republican leaders in recent years have pursued a program of “throw the wetbacks out.”
That misguided policy contributed to two Obama victories and has made it unlikely that the GOP can recover in the future — because the country is poised to have more Hispanics and fewer old white men.
Have Republican leaders responded by changing course? Well, sort of. Erick Erickson, founder of RedState.com, a conservative blog, admits “Frankly, the fastest-growing demographic in America isn’t going to vote for a party that sounds like that party hates brown people.”
Good start. But who does he blame? Apparently Erickson believes it’s Mitt Romney’s fault that the Republican approach to Hispanic voters was “atrocious.”
Pretty funny. If Republican voters in all those primary states hadn’t demanded a presidential candidate who was tough like Joe Arpaio, Romney would have been happy to duck the whole immigration mess.
In other words, it’s their own damn fault.