Pay me now or pay later

George Will notes the tension between a short-term Republican strategy of winning votes by blocking immigration reform that contains amnesty-style provisions and a long-term effort to win a decent share of the growing Hispanic vote. But what about the long-term tension between remaining a conservative party and trying to outbid Democrats for votes from a burgeoning Hispanic underclass? Given that tension, it may be a bit simplistic (from a conservative perspective) to think of the choice this year as “short-term gain vs. long-term pain.”