Yes, the Immigration Issue Is the Cause of the GOP's Hispanic ...

Some commentators, such as Heather MacDonald (whose work I respect immensely), have argued that immigration isn?t really the problem in appealing to the Hispanic population, since polling shows that they are not only turned off by the GOP?s immigration agenda, but by the party?s (supposed) opposition to big-government handouts:

A March 2011 poll by Moore Information found that Republican economic policies were a stronger turn-off for Hispanic voters in California than Republican positions on illegal immigration. Twenty-nine percent of Hispanic voters were suspicious of the Republican party on class-warfare grounds ? ?it favors only the rich?; ?Republicans are selfish and out for themselves?; ?Republicans don?t represent the average person?? compared with 7 percent who objected to Republican immigration stances.

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The demographic changes set into motion by official and de facto immigration policy favoring low-skilled over high-skilled immigrants mean that a Republican party that purports to stand for small government and free markets faces an uncertain future.

This is true as far as it goes, but I think that MacDonald is missing something very important.

Back in September, I wrote this about the ?empathy gap? that doomed Mitt Romney last Tuesday:

Ideology, by definition, is an abstract concern, while identity relates to people?s lived experiences. Ideals of liberty and freedom are worth fighting for ? but for those who aren?t already predisposed to identify with and prioritize those values, they?re also hard to relate to, on a day-to-day level. This difficulty is compounded when dealing with people who are members of minority groups ? people for whom identity traits are a constant theme in their emotional life. If you?re white, you?re unlikely to spend a lot of time thinking about your race. However, if you?re gay, you?re almost certainly going to spend a lot of time thinking about your sexual orientation, including how that factors into other aspects of your life, such as politics ? which leaves less room for other values, like freedoms of speech, association, and religion.

Should that be so? Maybe. Maybe not. But that?s the way it is. And it makes it significantly easier for Democrats to convince minorities to identify with their party ? especially at a young age, when they are still in the process of forging an identity, still deciding what values will be meaningful in their lives. Most people ? believe it or not ? don?t actually pay much attention to politics. When choosing a political party, the average American simply asks himself which party best matches his personal values. Last year, I persuaded my best friend, a fellow young gay man, to become a Republican instead of a Democrat. ?I became a Democrat because of gay marriage,? he explained to me. ?From there, I just kind of talked myself into the rest of what the party said.? There are millions of stories just like my friend?s.

Those millions of stories translate into a solid foundation of public support for Democrats. The paradox of appealing to ?minorities? is that the majority of us fall into one of those categories. Between blacks, Hispanics, feminist women, gays and lesbians, Jewish people, Muslims, and niche constituencies like labor unions, there are a whole lot of people who can properly identify as a member of a minority group ? and the Democrats, not the Republicans, are the ones who appeal to them on a visceral, emotional level. Democrats reach out to them on the basis of identity ? on the basis of their lived experiences. When it comes to raw, emotional reactions, lived experiences always beat abstractions. This is why Republicans are consistently trounced on the question of empathy ? and why Obama is still in a commanding position to win reelection.

Condoleezza Rice gave an interview on CBS? This Morning yesterday in which she said this: ?If you get the identity issues out of the way, then you can appeal to Americans on the broader issues that all Americans share concerns for.? That?s exactly right. The social issues serve as a barrier to persuasion. New voters ? young people, immigrants ? tend to learn to identify with one of the parties on a ?big picture? basis ? not by going down a checklist of issues and comparing the party platforms. Not only are the social issues are not only the easiest for the uninitiated to understand, but they have the most emotional impact, too. It?s one thing to argue over the merits of adjusting the capital gains tax rate ? most people will submit that it?s an issue about which reasonable people can civilly disagree. But when Hispanics hear that the Republican presidential nominee has openly advocated making life so miserable for illegal immigrants that they won?t even want to live here anymore (that?s what ?self-deportation? means, people), then an enormous wall has been created. When you?ve lost the?trust of a minority group, they won?t listen to a word you have to say about Medicare, tax reform, or deficit-reduction. There?s nothing inherent about brown skin that makes a person hostile toward capitalism. But if people with brown skin think that the party of the free market hates them, then they?ll run into the arms of the party of statism. And why not? People need to feel assured that you view them with dignity and respect, not with contempt and loathing. There?s nothing that should be surprising about that.

We don?t need to win the Hispanic vote ? we just need to increase our share back to levels more like George W. Bush?s. Changing our policies and tone toward immigration issues is only a first step to achieving that ? not only because it is practical, but because it is the right thing to do. Once that issue is out of the way, then we can go about the vital task of reaching out to Hispanic voters on the basis of the timeless American values of upward mobility, economic freedom, and individual liberty.

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Source: http://race42012.com/2012/11/10/yes-the-immigration-issue-is-the-cause-of-the-gops-hispanic-problem/

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