Top Democratic strategist: GOP establishment thinking about the hispanic vote is “juvenile”

It must be fun being David Plouffe. Not only do you get to run rings around Republicans during election season, but you get to watch the Republican “brain trust” learn the wrong lessons from defeat, thereby improving the odds that your party will continue to run circles around the GOP.

For example, many Republicans believe that the key to winning the Hispanic vote is caving on immigration reform (thereby allowing many millions of illegal aliens eventually to vote). Many also seem to think that Marco Rubio can salvage the GOP’s image with Hispanic voters.

Plouffe makes short work of both delusions. On immigration reform:

The bigger problem [Republicans have] with Latinos isn’t immigration. It’s their economic policies and health care. The group that supported the president’s health care bill the most? Latinos.

On Rubio:

The Hispanic voters in Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico don’t give a damn about Marco Rubio, the Tea Party Cuban-American from Florida. You know what? We won the Cuban vote! And it’s because younger Cubans are behaving differently than their parents. It’s probably my favorite stat of the whole campaign. So this notion that Marco Rubio is going to heal their problems — it’s not even sophomoric; it’s juvenile!

Given Plouffe’s track record, these views should be taken much more seriously than the romantic view of the Republican establishment that Hispanics are just waiting to vote Republican if only the party would yield immigration reform and parade Marco Rubio and a few other Hispanic politicians more. To call the current wishful thinking of the Republican establishment thinking on the subject “juvenile” is probably to be kind.

Via Mark Krikorian.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses