Is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) making sense?
…Graham said the GOP will never be a national party until it changes course on immigration and improves its relationship with young people, who voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama .
“That’s why I’m involved in the climate and energy debate. I think Republicans need to be proudly for clean air. And, I think it’s important that Republicans repair the damage with Hispanics done in the 2007 immigration debate.”
Now, if I were a Republican strategist, I’d be advising the Republicans to adopt an entirely new model for cobbling together a majority that doesn’t rely on white resentment of minorities. I’d make that recommendation for moral reasons, but I’d also make it because the days of riding white backlash against ‘big government’ to victory are nearing an end (it still looks like a solid bet to work this year, however). But the ‘damage with Hispanics done in the 2007 immigration debate’ didn’t just happen. The Republican base demanded that it happen. And the GOP is dependent on their base because there just aren’t that many people making over $250,000 a year in this country. So, the Republican Party is pretty much compelled to court and tolerate racists. Until they adopt some positive ideology that can appeal to common folk on the merits, they’re going to be appallingly bad at attracting the Latino vote.