Sep 20 2007
GOP Will Lose Congress In ’08 Due To Their Immigration Hypochondriacs
The writing is on the wall. The Democrat led Congress has irritated all but 11% of the electorate now that they are plowing new depths of regard public opinion discontent. This is less than half the support of the supposedly disliked President Bush. But the GOP, by letting hotter heads control the topic, have not and will not be able to take advantage of the Democrats mistakes, because they have made their own mistakes and in a critical area that is pivotal to winning elections. This can be seen in the fact that no matter how far down the Congressional approval ratings go, the GOP sinks farther behind the Democrats in the generic vote tests:
have opened an eighteen point lead in the Generic Congressional ballot. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that, if the Congressional Election were held today, 50% of American voters say they would vote for the Democrat in their district. Just 32% would opt for the Republican.
These kinds of numbers portend an even bigger bloodbath for the GOP than they saw in 2006. One just needs to look at the polls leading up to the 2006 election to see the writing on the wall. The GOP is not gaining support because they are seen as more as dangerous or wrong for this country as the Dems. Otherwise they would be seeing a benefit from the Dems debacle. Michael Gerson notes in WaPo where the shift has come, and it comes from two groups reacting to the same issue. The shift is from moderate conservatives (which means people like me) and the hispanic community – which can move 5-10% of the vote away from the GOP in a flash:
Immigration used to be a debate among Republicans. Now the issue survives mainly as a weapon.
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That anger is pushing Republicans into some powerful symbols of indifference to Hispanic voters. The Univision Republican debate, scheduled for last Sunday with simultaneous translation into Spanish, was postponed when only Sen. John McCain agreed to show up. Rep. Tom Tancredo objected to the event on principle: “We should not be doing things that encourage people to stay separate in a separate language” — which raises the question: Is saying “Viva Cuba Libre” no longer permissible for Republicans?
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It is a strange spectacle. Conservatives are intent on building a more appealing, post-Bush Republican Party. But their most obvious change so far is to reverse remarkable Republican gains among one of the fastest-growing groups of American voters. The renovators seem more like the wrecking crew.
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The political effects were immediate. Bob Dole got about 21 percent of Hispanic votes in 1996. Bush won about 35 percent in 2000. In 2004, Bush ran in the Latino media on the slogan “Nos conocemos,” or “We know one another” — and both he and Republicans in Congress averaged over 40 percent of the Hispanic vote.
The political effects of conservative opposition to immigration reform have been swift as well. Latino support for GOP candidates dropped back to 30 percent in 2006. According to one poll, Latinos under age 30 now prefer a generic Democrat over a Republican for president by 42 points. A harsh, Tancredo-like image of Republicans has solidified in the mainstream Hispanic media. And all of this regression will be even more obvious in the next few months, because more than half of the Hispanic voters in America live in states that are part of the new lineup of early primaries.
There is a way out of this mess. Tancredo and his ilk are on the way out. They cannot gain the support to win. I doubt he is even able to pull a Ned Lamont. The key is the primaries. If people want to pout in the corner of the minority uselessy chanting their superior vision as Democrats gain control and take this country down the wrong path then America is going to be in for a rough ride. And sadly enough of the hypochondriacs savour the idea of punishing America for not sharing their vision. It is who they are. They want to punish the immigrants when illegal immigration is only a minor misdemeanor – not punishabe. And they want to punish all who disagree with them. And they are rude and uncivil in how they go about it. And that brings us to Gerson’s best point of his article:
There is a moral hazard as well. Surfing on a wave of voter resentment is easier than rowing on the calmer waters of inclusion and charity. But the heroes of America are generally heroes of reconciliation, not division.
Not to worry, I am not in the hero category because I am not looking for reconciliation. That moment was gone after the last round of RINO name-calling and backstabbing the leader of our war effort with “El Presidente Jorge Bustrada”. That was such immature behavior I can’t find a reason to try and salvage the old conservative alliance. Time for a new one.
I am simply going to base my votes on what the far right says is their most ardent focus right now: purifying the party. To me that means voting against the hot heads, and if the hot heads win, voting democrat if they are reasonable options. The key to me is the Presidency. If the GOP keeps the Presidency with someone like Guliani (which is the only positive result we will see from the tanking of Congress), then the risk of a Democrat Congress is minimized to the best degree one could hope for. Besides, the way things have been going downhill with the GOP the Dems are going to win Congress anyway. If we are going to be punishing people and purifying parties, it may be time to jettison those whose hate and anger on immigration is destroying everyone else’s chances to get their other issues addressed. We seem to be screwed either way – now it is time to make lemonade from all the handwringing.
Update: Shamanic at Newshoggers confuses passion with success and correct. Geez, al-Qaeda is passionate (no, I am not making a direct comparison), but they are wrong and they are losing. The far leftwing in this country is passionate. You can have passion PLUS some other good traits and succeed. Wanting something a lot (the essence of passion) is not sufficient.
This person also confuses my objective analysis with wishful thinking. I do not expect the GOP to purge Tancredos – the voters will do it. Heck, they are doing it. Tancredo is a egotistical fool, which is why even a GOP Presidential effort he is in the back of the pack with Ron Paul (and I would suspect those GOP’ers ready to vote for Hillary!). The point I made is there is no alliance when one side refuses to compromise. The purists are purifying the party to nothing, or themselves to nothing.
This dynamic is set and not shifting. As the Tancredo types lose and lose and lose, they become irrelevant to new governing coalitions which will arise. I don’t have to ‘wish’ for anything really. I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to. This is something the far right is doing to alienate itself from the rest of the country. Passion, in this case, equals insults at those the far right needs in order to gain the power to push their policies. As long as they insult and repulse the majority of the people (watch Tancredo’s presidential poll numbers for the reality here) they destroy themselves. No compromise = no coalitions. This ain’t rocket science folks. Note to author – the GOP was NEVER my party. I am a proud independent, wouldn’t join either of these dysfunctional parties. I am a Reagan-Bush conservative. I stand by El Presidente Jorge Bustrada – not the GOP (which is right now out of power in case you hadn’t noticed). Yes, I am aware the hot heads have the party in a death grip, and I am watching with fascination. I have no need to be “sorry” – things work out.
AJ,
If the GOP loses congress in ’08, I will lay the blame on the ego, ineptitude and cowardice of the congress itself. Republicans in congress failed to stand up to the corrupt and traitorous Dems and failed to explain and defend the President’s foreign policy.
Likewise, they failed to explain and defend the President’s immigration plan.
A unified party would have made it tougher for the media to impose its slant and for rogue congressmen, like Tancredo, to get traction.
Nothing is going to change as long as very powerful people are literally making billions of dollars on things the way they are right now.
Here is what it is going to take to put sanity into this issue:
Retirement of the boomers en masse leads to Social Security paying out more than it is taking in. To make up the difference, Social Security opens the “trust fund” which is really a stack of IOUs used to fund previous deficits. Social Security delivers some of these IOUs (special bonds that Social Security is *required* to purchase with any surplus funds it has) to the Treasury for payment. This money falls directly to the bottom line and inflates the deficit. If Hillarycare has been passed in the meantime, the deficit is already 100 billion more than it otherwise would be.
Comgress is now faced with a choice, cut spending (Congress never cuts spending) or create a huge increase in PAYROLL taxes to cover the difference. Someone gets the brilliant idea that legalizing the illegals for labor purposes and hitting *all* “under the table” employment hard would make up the difference or greatly reduce it. The people when faced with a choice of huge payroll tax increases (not like income tax where loopholes and shelters and other ways can be found to avoid it) decide it is better to bring a huge underground economy above board.
In other words, it won’t be fixed until the problem it solves will benefit more voters than the problem it creates (reduction in profits for construction magnates and real estate developers who give huge sums to politicians).
Anyone who seriously believes that the illegals already here can be simply sent home is a couple of nuggets short of a happy meal.
Anyone who seriously believes that the illegals already here can be simply sent home is a couple of nuggets short of a happy meal.
That is seriously accurate. But this is the fantasy that they stirred to hysterical mass and sold. Now they are working on the Newt Premise that says to campaign on immigration and diss Bush. What an idiot.
Shhhh AJ……they do not know they are going to lose and even if they do understand it at a gut level, they have their Fingers ready. Pointers at Bush (how quaint).
The circle has met once again……when Bush Sr lost the second term they pronounced it was because of taxes. Okay. But only a percentage……many of us were so disgusted by that Pug Convention on Purity that we reacted. It takes a BIG tent to do a GOP win. And they never learn. So what do they do? They next run a wonderful man (I admire and respect) but was a sure loser. In the bag before it started. They never learn. They do not care that you must WIN before you get a chance at anything. And they wonder why some of us get so disgusted when they say such as ‘we stand on principle’. Okay.
Tancredo and Malkin lead this party right down the black hole. That simple. They convinced our other Pundits/blogs to join them with their destruction. The Dems are THRILLED. They KNOW. They will whip up this group into a sure frenzy because they understand the RESULT. The result? As you said, it does not matter how low in approval the Dems go………….the DAMAGE is done. They convinced FOX’s main anchor show, O’Reilly’s Factor, to buy into their dream. Malkin guest hosted to stir it up. Now he showcases Newt. I assume it was Malkin that turned O’Reilly because he learned to do the BushJab. I still challenge him to put his ‘body language’ expert loose on the Malkin/Tancredo show. Freeze those face frames because it tells the entire ugly story. That is what was wrong with this discussion from the beginning.
BushJab? Oh well, that is a Fry Brownie instead of ‘why did the Dems sit on their azz an hour away? This ugly immigration campaign started LONG before they were able to whip up the masses and they used it as a footnote to every issue. You have it right about the Mex vote. Gone. Pfffffffttttt. Then they will say but it was only a smaller percentage. Okay. Try zero on for size. Get your finger read, get set………. I learned. I am pointing right back at you.
Owl:
Same here.
Bush I lost to Clinton in 92 because “He lied about raising taxes?” Where were you in 92? Is this what the teach in American History now? Bush lost because Ross Perot ran as a third party candidate and split the conservative vote. Bill Clinton never got more than 43% of the vote in 92 or 96. If Ross Perot had not run in both elections and split the anti Clinton vote, Bill Clinton would never have been elected. The only way Hillary can get elected in 08 is to have a third party candidate to split the anti Hillary vote. Who will that third party candidate be? The first choice was John McCain, but he is doing so badly in the Rep. Primaries that it is doubtful he can get enough votes to make a difference. Then there is Bloomberg but the only state Bloomberg can carry is NY. and he would be a help ony if Rudy, The Country’s Mayor, is the Rep. Candidate.
I don’t see the country being so upset about the terrible way all these illegals are being treated. The day doesn’t go by that there aren’t more headlines about an illegal committing a horrible crime like murder, rape, serial child molestation , cop killing, or DUI fatality.
We are being taxed the the hilt locally to provide classrooms and social services for illegals who are in our face everywhere we go demanding “their civil rights.” I dont’ know where you are getting you statistics but most of the ones I have seen say the majority of US citizens want them out of the country. The Democrats didnt’ take Congress because of the immigration issue. The Dems. took it because the MSM played up Dem. claims of Rep. misconduct and malfeasance most of which proved to be non stories after the elections. and downplayed to the point of not even covering criminal activities of Dems. Such as Sandy Burglar stealing top secret document from the National Archives, and all that illegal cash that Hillary and the Dems. collected during the election. In addition There was massive voter registration and fraud committed by ACORN, a far left (Communist Front) group that promotes and supports Dem. candidates. If ACORN was doing it, so were tother non profits funded and controled by Soros. 30,000 liberal Yankees who voted both in NY and Fla. RichJews who live in Israel and are allowed to vote absentee in the US. If you add up the Dem. fraud such as hand recounting the ballots in Washington state 3 times, until they had dislodged enough chads in conservative districts to disqualify enough votes to give the electio to the Dem. Then complain when the Fed. attorney in Wash. was fired for not investigating that fiasco. Add tot hat all the illegals who voted for Dems. And you get is a thrid world country election, which is what we are fast becoming.
The Reps. lost votes becuase the immigrations laws were not being enforced and the country is inundated with illegals who are costing us all money. And don’t count on Illegals bailing out SS. As soon as they figure out they can get disability SS, there will be as many of them on it fraudulently as there are US citicens.
No momdear, the situation with illegal immigration has been around ro a long time, the Reps lost because they decided to eat their own over an issue they were more than willing to ignore for decades.
If the people are so upset about immigration why is it the Democrats are winning? Why is it that people like Tancredo are losing?
Terrye
Nobody is saying put em all on a bus and send them south of the border, because it would be a waste of time and they would be back the next week.
With strict hiring enforcement, they would have to self deport, but that is another whole issue.
Some want them all legalized to add to the voter/tax base depending on their objectives.
The easier way would be to pass the Fair Tax and get all the revenue shared then from the illegals, drug runners, pimps and tax shelter loopholes off their gravy train.
Merlin:
No one is saying put them all on a bus?
This is what amazes me about the hard right on this issue. On one hand they deny that they want to ship all these people out of here, because they know it is impossible. On the other they demand that all these are criminals and have to go. How? Self deport? Some might do that but considering where a lot of these people come from poverty here is probably a hell of a lot better than what they left behind, so why would all 11 million self deport? Do you really think that someone who has been here for decades, has children who are American citizens..is just going to self deport?
And you will never be able to find them all, it is not possible. What about the people who are self employed for that matter?
Do the math on self deportation. Assuming we find 50 illegals a day in sting operations (which we do about once a month or once a week) it would take 400,00 days (assuming the 20 million number bantered about by the hypochondriacs) to find them all and boot them out of work so they supposedly self deport (as opposed to get another job somewhere else). That is over a 1,000 years to clear out the illegal population.
Now that’s a pretty dumbass plan if you ask me.
This is why passion is bad and common sense is good. Too many people forget passion is akin to confusion. By default it means less brain and more emotion.
The hypochondriacs are living in a fantasy world and everyone knows it but them. And few care if they ever figure it out since their only ability is to stop progress, not make progress. And yes, they call people names a lot too – forgot about that talent.
Bush I lost to Clinton in 92 because “He lied about raising taxes?†Where were you in 92? Is this what the teach in American History now?
Where was I? Shaking my head over that Convention and saying that I liked Bush Sr okay, but did not want to have a thing to do with that group assembled. Was I surprised that Perot got 19-20%. I ask you back……were you? I see you bought the conventional reason that is touted as FACT. You believe the only reason was what you quoted. Wrong. It takes a Big, big, big tent. So Bush Sr insulted the tax squad? Yep, but you should get out more…..they are not the only group in town.
I don’t see the country being so upset about the terrible way all these illegals are being treated. The day doesn’t go by that there aren’t more headlines about an illegal committing a horrible crime like murder, rape, serial child molestation , cop killing, or DUI fatality.
If you don’t know that I am upset with the crimes, you do not understand my position on this subject. I been labeled as ‘open border, amnesty’. Wrong again. I have watched this issue build for 40 years. I have watched it create huge companies and even towns. I have known illegals. I have known illegals that worked and become citizens. I have known some semi-bad ones and some really wonderful people. Don’t tell me I do not understand this issue. I am slightly tougher on it than many but if I have to choose………which is what the Far Right is forcing……..then I completely reject the Tancredo/Malkins.
Bush was a Texas governor. He has Mex in his family and don’t try to spout the Pundit established fact that it is ‘all’ illegals. This is a direct attack on the Mex. My point? Bush had to view this issue from both sides. When it first came up, I was not concerned because we finally had someone that KNEW about it. Immediately the Far Right (okay, sub Malkin) rejected every word he said. It did not matter what he did or what he said. I kept saying that if the Far Right would shut up the HARDCORE crap, Bush could have been gently urged into addressing some parts of this problem that needed help. Do you not think I want English? Get real. Since we will not be shipping them back because that is IMPOSSIBLE, why lose the entire Mex goodwill that Bush had built? Why? Ugly. Just plain ugly like the Pugs always get painted.
So who is responsible for the new Ugly Pug? Who is responsible for not getting anything accomplished? I predict that the Dems will now give Amnesty to ALL and create an entire new voter block. Then you will quote back to me as established FACT that it was people like me and Bush that gave them amnesty. No, I wanted something done but I also wanted to keep the legal Mex voter that Bush helped me push into the Pug tent. They fit the Pugs better than Dems but it is too late now.
So the Far Right has accomplished quite a lot. Dems will give them ALL amnesty. That’s criminals and all, thank you very much. The Far Right has just cemented the majority for Dems with their new voter block. I am familiar with that also since it occurred for most of my lifetime. But you keep watching the established facts and quoting them back to me.
The Democrats didnt’ take Congress because of the immigration issue.
Oh, I know the established fact. It was pork and corruption. Wrong. It was a split party that decided to Bushbash, starting with Miers. It was the hysterical Pug blog that declared Bush a traitor. And that was because……….????? It was the way the public only got the Ugly because of the MSM and the blog faithfuls only got the Bushjabs footnoted on EVERY issue except the war. How many times did I read ‘cronyism’? From right blogs. Not the MSM. Right blogs. How many times did I read ‘incompetence’? Not from MSM but from Right blogs. So what was fueling all this undercover bash? You can trace it back to the origin. Tancredo/Malkin lead illegal immigration war.
We lost that last election because of the Malkin war and the the spineless incompetents we had in Congress that bought your Facts as the gospel and thought they could escape as long as they were great Pointers. They bought that they could hide from the Bushstink and keep putting their arms around their good Dem buds. After all, didn’t we all know it was all Bush’s fault?
Owl,
Let me remind all the immigration/amnesty hypochondriacs that all the crimes and murders committed after they tanked the Bush bill which DID make it legal to boot criminal aliens out of here that THEY are now the ones responsible for all the victims.
They stood in the way of new laws needed to fast track violent criminals out of here and lied when they said current laws can do the trick.
They cannot do the trick and every crime victim of an alien who could have been deported under the laws proposed last spring can thank the GOP the thug is still in our country. They stopped the bill, they get the credit for the results.
“Bush I lost to Clinton in 92 because “He lied about raising taxes?—
Uhm, NO. Bush lost to Clinton for four major reasons.
1: Hurricane Andrew. The media played up the hype on the government’s response to people in the path of Andrew. Katrina was an attempted re-write of that same script for the younger Bush. Now imagine of Katrina had hit on August 24 of 2004. Imagine what the election results would have been in November of 2004 and you have pretty much of an idea of what went on.
2. The media and certain Democratic lawmakers played up a meme of “the worst economic recession since the Great Depression” when in fact there WAS no recession at all once the revised numbers came out and even if there had been, it would have been an extremely mild one only barely meeting the criteria for a “recession” (three consecutive quarters of GNP shrinkage).
3, Bill Clinton’s “keystone” campaign promise that cycle was a “middle-class tax cut”. The people in MY town at the time were all abuzz with that one. That was a promise he promptly reversed himself on as soon as elected as “not feasible at this time”.
4. Ross Perot took more votes from registered Republicans than from registered Democrats allowing Clinton to win both the 92 and the 96 elections with less than 50% of the popular vote. George Bush got more votesas a percentage of those cast in 2004 than Clinton did in either election.
Yes, AJ.
Crosspatch, 2 of your 4 had ‘media’. Yep, but my point was that each voter had their own reasons and not that ole accepted ‘fact’. I just stated my disgust of the Convention. I consider Perot taking 19-20% huge for a third party.
I want to point out that George W Bush ran on Compassionate Conservative. They were not dummies. Why did they feel the need to broadcast that they were Compassionate? Because the Pugs always paint themselves into that Ugly corner and he needed to change the image. It worked and he squeaked in. The tide had turned and the country was moving. So what happened that split us? It was not the war. The war only put the light on the Vietnam Dems. But we are right back into that Ugly corner and if you think the Dem’s MSM are going to let us out……..forget it. I tell you they will give amnesty and create a solid voter block, otherwise Hillary would not have been in FL. Actually, they do not even have to pass it. It is a win-win.
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