Here’s a lesson for how Republicans can avoid winning elections in the coming years. Write off the entire Latino population on the grounds that they are all “socialists by nature.”
That’s the word from Bryan Fischer, the spokesman for the conservative organization, American Family Association. According to Fischer, it is a lost cause to try and appeal to Latino voters, because they will always be out looking for “big government goodies.”
Other Republicans echoed Fischer’s position. Iowa Congressman Steve King, who is still a firm “no” on the issue of immigration. He took to twitter to weigh in last week:
"Obama voters chose dependency over Liberty. Now establishment R's want citizenship for illegals. You can't beat Santa Claus with amnesty," he wrote.
Fischer and King aside, other Republicans do want to tackle the Party’s problem with demographics. Mitt Romney won just 27% of the Latino vote, compared to President Obama’s 71%. Some Republicans are already changing their tune on issues like immigration in response to the stark divide. South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham for example announced that bipartisan immigration talks, which were stalled two years ago due to gridlock, will be back up and running. Graham is certainly not a lone wolf on the issue these days. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and others are looking to tackle the immigration issue.
Take a look at Bryan Fischer’s comments. Can Republicans write off the Latino population and still manage to get enough votes to win back the White House?