Comments on: McCain to Speak at the National Council of La Raza http://thecrossedpond.com/2008/05/05/mccain-to-speak-at-the-national-council-of-la-raza/ "A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one." Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:05:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Adam http://thecrossedpond.com/2008/05/05/mccain-to-speak-at-the-national-council-of-la-raza/comment-page-1/#comment-11258 Adam Tue, 06 May 2008 16:27:23 +0000 http://thecrossedpond.com/?p=3234#comment-11258 The point of winning elections is to maximise votes, not to win the majority of votes in each group. So, whilst I don't have an opinion either way on which way Hispanics will vote in the future, <em>some</em> will vote Republican and <me>some won't; the calculation is how to increase one number and not the other and whether doing so will cost you votes elsewhere. Of course, that is no different from any other sort of politics.</me> The point of winning elections is to maximise votes, not to win the majority of votes in each group. So, whilst I don’t have an opinion either way on which way Hispanics will vote in the future, some will vote Republican and some won’t; the calculation is how to increase one number and not the other and whether doing so will cost you votes elsewhere. Of course, that is no different from any other sort of politics.

]]> By: daveg http://thecrossedpond.com/2008/05/05/mccain-to-speak-at-the-national-council-of-la-raza/comment-page-1/#comment-11257 daveg Tue, 06 May 2008 15:28:52 +0000 http://thecrossedpond.com/?p=3234#comment-11257 Oh, an Hispanics will not vote Republican majority, nor will they vote for less government. In NO state or district is this the case. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying or misinformed. Oh, an Hispanics will not vote Republican majority, nor will they vote for less government. In NO state or district is this the case.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying or misinformed.

]]> By: daveg http://thecrossedpond.com/2008/05/05/mccain-to-speak-at-the-national-council-of-la-raza/comment-page-1/#comment-11254 daveg Tue, 06 May 2008 08:09:11 +0000 http://thecrossedpond.com/?p=3234#comment-11254 I should also add that in close republican primaries, such as Chris Cannon's, the Republican establishment poured in resources at the last minute include flooding the districts with phone call from president bush and even the first lady. But for these efforts the advocate for better controls on illegal immigration would certainly have won the race, even thought that person had not held an office before and was running against a 12+ year incumbent. I should also add that in close republican primaries, such as Chris Cannon’s, the Republican establishment poured in resources at the last minute include flooding the districts with phone call from president bush and even the first lady.

But for these efforts the advocate for better controls on illegal immigration would certainly have won the race, even thought that person had not held an office before and was running against a 12+ year incumbent.

]]> By: daveg http://thecrossedpond.com/2008/05/05/mccain-to-speak-at-the-national-council-of-la-raza/comment-page-1/#comment-11253 daveg Tue, 06 May 2008 06:25:38 +0000 http://thecrossedpond.com/?p=3234#comment-11253 Brian Bilbray won his district by emphasizing strong immigration enforcement against a surging democratic candidate. Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) is making it one of his key issues. You just don't know you history on this one. The problem occurs when the immigration control advocates are also pro-war. In general, the war is such a loser that it overwhelms the immigration issue. And even the strongest proponents of more immigration only are willing to say so under the verbiage of "comprehensive immigration reform" which is confusing by design. When one side is trying to confuse the issue, that is a sure sign there position is not popular. All that said, tone certainly matters. You can't claim immigrants are bad people. You can't say all immigration is bad, just the level and quality (or lack thereof) we have now is not helping the nation. Brian Bilbray won his district by emphasizing strong immigration enforcement against a surging democratic candidate. Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) is making it one of his key issues.

You just don’t know you history on this one.

The problem occurs when the immigration control advocates are also pro-war. In general, the war is such a loser that it overwhelms the immigration issue.

And even the strongest proponents of more immigration only are willing to say so under the verbiage of “comprehensive immigration reform” which is confusing by design.

When one side is trying to confuse the issue, that is a sure sign there position is not popular.

All that said, tone certainly matters. You can’t claim immigrants are bad people. You can’t say all immigration is bad, just the level and quality (or lack thereof) we have now is not helping the nation.

]]> By: Liz http://thecrossedpond.com/2008/05/05/mccain-to-speak-at-the-national-council-of-la-raza/comment-page-1/#comment-11250 Liz Tue, 06 May 2008 03:13:34 +0000 http://thecrossedpond.com/?p=3234#comment-11250 I think that it is very easy to dismiss the illegal immigration question if you don't live in an affected area. It is a very real concern in certain regions (the southwest, southern Texas, Florida and DC metropolitan area that I can think of off hand). It's not a very hot button item for me personally, but even fairly liberal local politicians in the D.C. area talk about it regularly, with great focus put on the number of non-English speaking students with illegal parents entering the public school system (my mom's elementary school is 40% non-English speakers). The counties in the area have been taking their own actions in the face of what they perceive as inaction by the federal government. For instance, Prince William County in northern Virginia (NoVA not being known for its conservative leanings) has enacted an anti-illegal immigration resolution that runs the gamut from allowing police to check residency status to denying illegals county services. It's been an on-going headache here and a real issue that people talk about often. A more stringent immigration policy would play pretty well in Virginia, which is a red-ish state leaning towards purple. Overall I don't think it's not a true concern for most Americans, but I would not dismiss it out of hand as playing no role at all. There are some really angry people around here and they are not all unreasonable human beings or xenophobic. I think that it is very easy to dismiss the illegal immigration question if you don’t live in an affected area. It is a very real concern in certain regions (the southwest, southern Texas, Florida and DC metropolitan area that I can think of off hand).

It’s not a very hot button item for me personally, but even fairly liberal local politicians in the D.C. area talk about it regularly, with great focus put on the number of non-English speaking students with illegal parents entering the public school system (my mom’s elementary school is 40% non-English speakers).

The counties in the area have been taking their own actions in the face of what they perceive as inaction by the federal government. For instance, Prince William County in northern Virginia (NoVA not being known for its conservative leanings) has enacted an anti-illegal immigration resolution that runs the gamut from allowing police to check residency status to denying illegals county services.

It’s been an on-going headache here and a real issue that people talk about often. A more stringent immigration policy would play pretty well in Virginia, which is a red-ish state leaning towards purple.

Overall I don’t think it’s not a true concern for most Americans, but I would not dismiss it out of hand as playing no role at all. There are some really angry people around here and they are not all unreasonable human beings or xenophobic.

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