Disenfranchising minority voters is a standard page in the Republican playbook. For example, Republicans conspired to keep African Americans from voting in Florida in 2000 by having their names removed from voter rolls, because their names were similar to those of people with convictions. Thousands were deprived of their right to vote. Republican poll watchers are trained to intimidate minority voters. This year, Republicans know they cannot win a significant portion of the Latino vote, because of their racist approach to immigration reform. So a front group has been running ads telling Latino voters to stay home to punish Democrats for failing to pass comprehensive immigration reform. That attempt seems to have backfired.
Those ads by a right-wing front group called "Latinos for Reform" — urging Latinos not to vote for Democrats in the coming election because they haven’t delivered on comprehensive immigration reform — may not be turning out to be such a hot idea:
But the fever-pitch backlash to this advertisement suggests the message could bring about just the opposite effect, by energizing a Hispanic voting bloc that may have been lethargic with a new and compelling reason to get out and vote — by and large, for Democrats.
From the 2004 to 2008 elections, Hispanics grew in force from 8 percent of the electorate to 12 to 15 percent, depending on the exit poll — roughly equal to President Barack Obama’s margin of victory. Obama carried 76 percent of the Nevada Hispanic vote in 2008.
Electorate growth rates among Hispanics have slowed since. But what hasn’t is their overwhelming enthusiasm for Democrats.
“Hispanics are much more likely to view congressional Democrats favorably than other groups,” said John Tuman, chairman of UNLV’s political science department who also teaches in the Latin American studies department. According to a recent study by UNLV and the Brookings Mountain West think tank, “it’s only among Hispanics in any Mountain West state that you see Democrats having an overall net favorability ranking,” Tuman said.
Yeah, campaigns that smack of overt minority voter-suppression efforts — particularly since the self-serving hypocrisy of these ads ("Punish Democrats because they haven’t been effective in overcoming our longstanding efforts to kill immigration reform") is so transparent — tend not to go over so well with minority voters… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>
I have to add that the contents of the ads were lies. Republicans have opposed immigration reform, because they want undocumented workers to exploit.
18 Responses to “Republican Bigotry Backfires”
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What bugs the hell out of me is not so much the Rights use of the “Southern Strategy” and the keep the vote home plan is that no one is hammering the senate. The Blue Dogs and the arm locked goose steppers two years of total filibuster obstruction that the GOP just put the nation through. If we let them anywhere near a majority that proves what i have long thought–that we have been made into a herd that travels in droves to market.
When in America did we quit thinking for ourselves? Is this going to be an ongoing tactic let the fool on the elephant or ass drive us wherever they want?
The president has two more years to work, to understand that trying to reach across the aisle only shortens his arm and he had better order a few dozen boxes of veto pens and have the cajones to use them.
Mark, if we hold the majority in the Senate, the only chance for success is to change the rules on day one. Then Dems need to stop creeping to do good, afraid of every whisper, because Republicans will step out boldly to do evil, caring not what anyone thinks.
It also speaks volumes about the Republicans’ ongoing belief that minorities are stupid. Of course it is the GOP which is stupid. Latinos are far too intelligent to fall for this ad and their memories of being screwed by the conservatives go back for more than a century.
Leslie, I hope and think you are right. I hope they can make a difference,
More than a century? Ever hear of Cortez. De Soto or the conquistadors?
Good point!
Yes, be sure to watch the election returns on Nov 3 and see how horribly all the Republicans’ positions on issues are backfiring on them. Wow, they’re really going to take it on the chin, I’m sure. That’ll teach them to try to insist upon enforcing laws when the lawbreakers are poor people, who as we all know are naturally entitled to break whatever laws they need to break. Those Reptiles are about to get just what they deserve on Nov 3.
Welcome Charlie. 🙂
And your point is?
Seems to me the only people who get away with breaking the law are rich fat cats – like Bush, Cheney and Dumsfeld.
Too true. 🙁
Psssssst, Charlie – Freeperville is that way ———————————————>
You know, like in a car: “D” makes you move forward, but “R” makes you go backwards!
Amen.
Bottom line, President Obama has nothing to lose and everything to gain over the next 2 years. If he doesn’t start kicking some repub a$$, then he will definitely NOT be reelected. He could still lose in 2012 if the economy doesn’t improve, but at least he could show he gives a $hit. Unless he is, as some claim, under the thumb of Wall Street, the corporations, etal. 🙄
Nikolai, I agree. Obama tried to get the most legislation passed as possible and accomplished more than any President since LBJ. He chose to do so by not stepping on Republican toes. Has he done so, he would have accomplished less, but the the political cost of accomplising more has been horrid. More private sector jobs have been created in the last two years than in the entire eight years of the Bush regime, but nobody seems to know that.
I bet they ran the ads in English, which may Latinos don’t speak or read that well since they couldn’t find any Latinos in the Repub party to translate for them. Even if they did, Latinos are not stupid; they won’t fall for this stupid tactic by “Latinos for Reform”. Every Latino I’ve ever asked about which party they would vote for says something to the effect of “The Democrats – I’m not stupid; I’m a minority and all they want to do is ship us all back to Mexico!” 😆
They tried to run them in Spanish too, but Univision refused to air them.
isn’t it ironic how the right cried and whined about the Black Panther story in ’08. They are such hypocrites, they are the party of stolen elections and voter intimidation. They are the party who gets voters out by bus loads with pastors and preachers telling their congregations to listen to God, He will give you the answer! Lordy what a bunch of imbeciles! The GOP keeps their party dumbed down but never takes into account the rest of the country is not stupid!
Good point, Sue. Sadly, 3/4 of our kids are functionally illiterate when they graduate from HS.