On at least one issue the Wall Street Journal gets it:
Like most voters, Hispanics care about more issues than immigration. But also like most voters, they take pride in their cultural identity and will reject candidates who send a message of hostility to their very presence in America. They know that when Tom Tancredo calls for an immigration “time out,” he’s not talking about the Irish. He means no more Mexicans, Hondurans or other Hispanics. If the GOP wants to be deserted by Hispanics for the next few election cycles, that sort of talk should do the trick.
When former California Governor Pete Wilson ran an anti-Hispanic re-election campaign in 1994, he won a pyrrhic victory. Republicans have been virtually unable to win state-wide races in California ever since. If the Governator is any example, the road back for the GOP involves running much more moderate candidates than they have in the past. But first they must spend a decade in the wilderness.
