The Right is Taking the Wrong Approach With Hispanics

By Rachel Alexander.
The Republican Party has been trying with little success to bring more Hispanics into the party. This has become crucially important since the Hispanic percentage of the U.S. population has been increasing so fast it accounts for 50% of the growth in population since 2000. Some progress was made in 2004, when 40% of Hispanics voted for George W. Bush. But that dropped back down again in last year’s presidential race, with only 31% voting for John McCain. 67% voted for Barack Obama.

A recent Gallup poll found that 58% of Hispanics currently identify with Democrats, 20% identify with Republicans, and 22% identify with Independents. Here is a proposal for a balanced three-point plan for bringing Hispanics into the GOP.

Hispanics are generally more socially conservative than the general population, due to the importance they place on family. A majority of Hispanics support traditional marriage as evidenced by their 50%+ support for marriage ballot measures like California’s Proposition 8. 49% of white voters supported the measure, whereas 53% of Hispanics supported it. Yet attempts to attract them to the Republican Party through social issues have not succeeded, and notably many pro-family organizations are still lacking in Hispanic leadership and outreach.

Some believe that President Bush’s efforts to moderate the Republican Party’s position on illegal immigration had some success attracting Hispanics into the party. But although McCain later outflanked Bush on moderating the party’s immigration position, he failed to attract the extra 10 points that Bush did. This suggests that perhaps a slightly softer message on illegal immigration might resonate, but not quite as moderate as the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill.

The right needs a three-part strategy to attract Hispanics. First, Republicans need to quit acting like liberals in order to attract them. The left is always going to be more liberal on illegal immigration, so it is impossible to beat them in this area. A certain percentage of Hispanics will vote Democrat because of the illegal immigration issue – but that is little different than a similar percentage of the general population voting Democrat because of this issue.

A majority of Hispanics want secure borders and don’t want illegal immigrants abusing taxpayers’ money for social services. Polls in Arizona reveal that about half of Hispanics vote in favor of measures restricting illegal immigration.

On the other hand, there is no need to make illegal immigration the most important issue for Republicans. Many Hispanics have relatives who have entered the country illegally, and are more concerned with gay marriage or abortion than illegal immigration. There is a way to include enforcement of our borders as part of the Republican Party platform without making it the overarching issue. Hispanics, who are a composite of many nationalities, look a lot like the general population, so it makes sense to reach out to them with a cross-section of issues instead of trying to stereotype them.

Second, the right needs to let Hispanics celebrate their culture without giving them grief. One characteristic common to many Hispanics is they are proud of their heritage and like to celebrate it much the same way we celebrate holidays or religious traditions. It is not an affront to other Americans if a Hispanic group wants to celebrate their Hispanic heritage at an event. It is not an affront if a conservative organization decides to have a Hispanic liaison. Many Hispanics are more likely to be persuaded by another Hispanic.

Emphasizing Hispanic culture only becomes an affront if it means putting allegiance to the U.S. second. There are some organizations like “La Raza” and “MECHA” that promote separate Mexican culture so much it has a detrimental effect, especially when that kind of radical indoctrination is imposed upon young susceptible high school and university students. This kind of racial intransigence should not be treated the same as simple cultural interests and heritage preservation.

Third, an effort needs to be made by socially conservative organizations to reach out to Hispanics. There is an inherent tendency in any organization to retain the same faces in leadership for years, leaving little room for the advancement of others. This is a problem because all organizations need a regular influx of fresh faces and ideas in order to survive and adapt to change with new generations. As the Hispanic population has increased over the last generation, it has not made equivalent inroads into these conservative groups because many of the same people leading those organizations are still at the top.

With the expansion of the internet now allowing for massive democratic participation, it is no longer necessary for organizations to have only a few select leaders. Once there are visible Hispanic leaders on the right, it will become easier to attract Hispanics to conservative causes. Right now, there is not a single big name Hispanic social conservative. There are no prominent conservative Hispanic leaders who are considering running for President. This needs to change. This is not about affirmative action for Hispanics, it is about changing leadership generally which will result in newer faces of all kinds.

The Republican Party must stop stereotyping Hispanics. Propping up liberal Republican Hispanics who actively lobby against illegal immigration measures does not represent most Hispanics, who are not one-issue voters. In addition, liberal Hispanics will alienate non-Hispanics in the party with their liberal and combative approach on illegal immigration, causing unneeded conflict. Hispanics are made up of many diverse nationalities that share the common language of Spanish, including Spaniards, Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and most South American countries.

Cubans traditionally lean Republican, unlike other Hispanics. Consequently, narrow stereotyping of all Hispanics doesn’t work. The right needs to take a balanced approach towards Hispanics, which means accepting their culture yet not treating them all the same. Only when the Republican Party figures out this balance will it have more success bringing Hispanics into the party.

Rachel Alexander is the editor of “Intellectual Conservative” and an attorney practicing law in Phoenix, AZ.

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