"AnAmericanCitizen" > wrote in message
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...adlines-nation
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> GOP Sends Mixed Messages on Immigration
> Candidates talk tough about enforcement, but the White House, in an effort
to lure
> Latino voters, says it's time to discuss reform.
> By Maura Reynolds
> Times Staff Writer
>
> August 27, 2006
>
> WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's announcement last week that
stepped-up
> enforcement appears to be slowing illegal immigration was designed to send
a message:
> The nation's borders are becoming more secure and it's time to talk about
broad
> immigration reform.
>
> That would appear to contradict the message coming from many Republicans
on the
> campaign trail: The border is dangerously porous and talk of reform is
premature.
>
> But it is less of a contradiction than meets the eye. While Republican
candidates are
> trying to hang on to their congressional majority by trumpeting the need
for border
> security, the White House is laying the groundwork for a longer battle
over
> immigration with an eye on capturing the Latino vote.
>
> Republican Party leaders have the task of balancing the party's
conflicting
> short-term and long-term goals on immigration.
>
> In the short term, many if not most congressional Republicans are taking a
hard-line
> approach. In some districts, that means denouncing proposals for a guest
worker
> program or legalization of some immigrants as amnesty.
>
> "What you are seeing on the House side is uniform agreement on 'border
security
> first,' " said Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican
Congressional
> Committee. "Where they go beyond that is up to the individual.. This is
district by
> district. Each race is local."
>
> But strategists at the Republican National Committee and in the White
House are
> concerned that some of the tough rhetoric could give voters the impression
that
> Republicans are anti-immigrant. And that's a long-term danger for the
party, because
> its leaders are convinced that Latino voters are the key to turning the
GOP into the
> country's dominant party.
>
> "You always have self-serving politicians who are focused on one thing -
getting
> elected or reelected - and they put rhetoric ahead of what's good for the
country,"
> said Allen Weh, chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, where the
GOP has
> been battling to increase party registration.
>
> "We're going to have some collateral damage from this rhetoric, no doubt
about it,"
> Weh said.
>
> As a voter group, Latinos hold tremendous appeal for Republicans. First
and foremost,
> they are the fastest-growing segment of the population.
>
> Republicans also believe that despite Latinos' traditional loyalty to the
Democratic
> Party, they have a chance to make significant inroads by emphasizing
issues other
> than identity politics.
>
> For instance, party leaders think the Republicans' socially conservative
positions on
> issues such as abortion and *** marriage will resonate with Latino
Catholics, as well
> as with the swelling number of evangelical Protestants. Messages such as
> self-reliance and low taxes can be made to appeal to the many Latinos who
are
> small-business owners.
>
> On immigration, the party is essentially trying to send two messages at
once.
>
> "We are a nation of immigrants, and we are a nation of laws," Republican
National
> Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said this summer in a speech to a
conference of Latino
> officials. "We must forge a new way, a solution that recognizes these two
essential
> concepts."
>
> Whether a double-barreled message will resonate with voters remains to be
seen. But
> many House Republicans aren't willing to take chances on a long-term
strategy at the
> expense of losing control of Congress in the short term.
>
> "We have to solve our short-term problem before we solve our long-term
problem," said
> a senior Republican leadership aide, who would discuss internal party
strategy only
> on condition of anonymity.
>
> House Republicans are using their summer recess to hold a series of events
around the
> country designed to drum up support for their "enforcement first" approach
to
> immigration.
>
> That was the central idea behind a Republican-written bill, passed last
year, that
> raised illegal border crossing from a misdemeanor to a felony. That
proposal sparked
> nationwide street protests by Latinos, who carried signs saying, "We Are
Not
> Criminals."
>
> Democrats who are working to prevent Republican gains among Latinos say
that the
> administration's attempt to send two messages at once caught up with them
last
> spring.
>
> Joe Garcia, who works on Latino issues for the New Democrat Network, said
that before
> the street protests the administration had been courting Latino voters
while
> simultaneously encouraging right-wing radio hosts to beat the drums over
border
> security, raising fears of terrorists and foreigners flooding into the
country from
> Mexico.
>
> "This is an issue that plays to the xenophobic base," Garcia said. "For a
long time,
> [the president] was able to conduct two separate campaigns. The problem is
that the
> two of them met."
>
> It's conventional wisdom in Washington that little is expected to happen
on
> immigration legislation before the election in November, which allows
candidates
> maximum leeway to run against whatever version of immigration reform works
best in
> their districts.
>
> But some GOP House leaders are weighing whether it would help candidates
if they were
> to pass a modified immigration reform proposal before the election. Under
discussion
> is a two-stage bill: first, border security, and second, some form of
guest worker
> program "triggered" by certification of improvements in border security.
>
> "We can do it in phases," the House Republican aide said, noting the goal
would be to
> act before the election. "I wouldn't rule that out."
>
> Garcia said too much damage had been done to the Republican Party's image
among
> Latinos. A poll conducted recently for his group showed that support for
the
> president and the GOP had fallen dramatically since the 2004 election.
>
> "How do you call a certain group 'criminals' and then turn around and
offer an olive
> branch?" Garcia said.
>
> However the congressional election turns out, the long-term strategists
are unlikely
> to give up on their goal of sending more Republican Party membership cards
to
> Latinos.
>
> And toward that end, they hope to move the discussion, at least
incrementally, toward
> the next stage: Now that the borders are tight, what is to be done about
the millions
> already here?
>
> "I don't expect every Hispanic to wake up tomorrow and suddenly realize he
is a
> Republican," Mehlman said in his speech this summer. "But I do hope we can
come
> together as a nation to talk about immigration - without the angry
rhetoric."
>
>
> Do you want a Mexican way of life or an American way of life? That
> isn't a dumbass liberal vs conservative question, it's a critical
> question of what quality of life you and your children will have for
> themselves. You want the kind that half the population of Mexico is
> running to the border to get away from? That is what you'll get.
> ....Hoy Paloy

The White House affirms:

"Democracy is like an old ugly whore who must drop her drawers faster and
faster for less and less."

Hank