Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
Over at “Right Turn,” her blog for the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin reports on the meeting in Florida last Friday of the Hispanic Leadership Network.
Sponsored by the American Action Network, the Hispanic Leadership Network “aims,” as Jen puts it, “to deliver a center-right message to a…section of the electorate that will, by 2050, represent 30 percent of the population.”
American Action Network CEO Norm Coleman told me on Friday night that the response to the event, both in numbers and in enthusiasm, was "truly extraordinary." He said that there is a "hunger in the Hispanic community" for center-right ideas on everything from education to social issues to business-friendly economic issues. Moreover, Coleman argued, "One of the worst sins in politics is not being able to count." Simply put, Republicans can't win the presidency in 2012 without improving their standing with Hispanic voters.
Next up? Meetings in New Mexico and Texas.
Welcoming legal immigrants while taking a tough stand on border enforcement—this is very, very tricky to pull off, especially in the face of a hostile press. But it sounds as though some serious people are determined to try. Good for them.
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Oct '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
I am cautiously optimistic about the Hispanic Leadership Network, but I do hope they stick to conservative principles and avoid pandering. Furthermore, they should never give an inch on the issue of law enforcement - for far too long Washington has endangered the lives of border residents by refusing to enforce existing laws, being motivated by a twisted sense of compassion and political correctness.
Jun '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
I can tell you from my perch in Santa Fe that there's a good deal of antipathy for Mexicans, legal and illegal, amongst native Hispanics here. Ethnic solidarity is a myth. It's true that most Hispanics vote Democrat, but only because the Democratic Party has become a sugar daddy for government bureaucrats and the dependent class. Given the fact that many Hispanics are self-employed tradesmen and most are Roman Catholic, you would think New Mexico would be fertile ground for conservatives. Maybe under Governor Martinez it will be.
Aug '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
Espero que si.
Dec '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
Good for them and good for Norm Coleman. Minnesota's loss was our gain.
Jun '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
I know many, many right-leaning people from different Latin cultures. We part company when Affirmative Action comes up and they gladly check the hispanic box for their kids' college admissions and scholarship $$$. Wealthy judges, doctors, comptrollers all benefitting from AA. How are you going to convince them to give up that enormous perk?
Nov '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
Among the Hispanic groups, the only place where you have natural conservatives are the older Cubans who personally fled communism. Everyone else is up for grabs.
All you have to do is remind them of the other groups that benefit from this "perk" at their expense, namely African Americans. Conservative Hispanics hate Affirmative Action as much as any other conservatives do, but they would be fools to decline the benefit if it is presented to them, and they are not fools. Social Security is a ponzi scheme and I would gladly vote it out of existence, but until then, I intend to collect those benefits.
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
Yo tambien.
Jun '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
"Conservative Hispanics hate Affirmative Action as much as any other conservatives do, but they would be fools to decline the benefit if it is presented to them, and they are not fools."
Actually, when you look at AA in college admissions and scholarship $$, blacks and hispanics aren't competing for the same spots or $$. There are seperate pies and programs for both. I don't think you can say that hispanics who grab the perks hate AA. If they hated the perks, they'd turn them down. Yet I know Cubans who take them. Even those who fled Castro.
May '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
What have Hispanics contributed to the USA except a few restaurants and some dance music? Name a symphony orchestra, a ballet company, an art museum, a cancer research center, a university, a major foundation, a software company.
As Lee Kwan Yew said, we don't need "fruit-pickers".
Nov '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
"Sponsored by the conservative American Action Network (which raised gobs of cash in the 2010 election cycle), the Hispanic Leadership Network staged a gathering and invited prominent figures -- including former Colombia President Alvaro Uribe, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, recently elected Florida Gov. Rick Scott, likely presidential aspirant Tim Pawlenty, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman (AAN's CEO), and former White House press secretary Dana Perino -- to begin serious conservative outreach to the Hispanic community."
Impressive gathering of folks despite absence of Florida's premier Speaker (due to a slight conflict of schedule)...
Nov '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
outstripp: What have Hispanics contributed to the USA except a few restaurants and some dance music? Name a symphony orchestra, a ballet company, an art museum, a cancer research center, a university, a major foundation, a software company.
As Lee Kwan Yew said, we don't need "fruit-pickers". · Jan 17 at 6:42pm
1) They have contributed cheap labor of the sort that enables you and your family to enjoy a steak dinner at Applebee's for under $10, get your front yard landscaped for a few hundred, and your kitchen remodeled for a few thousand.
2) They make up a huge fraction of our enlisted military.
3) I don't know who Lee Kwan Yew is, but I can assure you that we do need fruit pickers. And if they're willing to work for less than minimum wage, that directly translates to cheaper fruit for you and me at the market.
Oct '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
outstripp: What have Hispanics contributed to the USA except a few restaurants and some dance music? Name a symphony orchestra, a ballet company, an art museum, a cancer research center, a university, a major foundation, a software company.
As Lee Kwan Yew said, we don't need "fruit-pickers". · Jan 17 at 6:42pm
I can name one thing my Hispanic maternal grandfather contributed: Spain's first nuclear power plant. Located north of Madrid, it was named the Jorge Cabrera Central Nuclear de Zorita. The building of the plant was contracted out to a Texas firm, and my grandpa - a seventh-generation Tejano (a Texan of Hispanic descent), and a WWII Navy veteran - was the project manager. Not bad for a fruit picker...
Oct '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
Very, very tricky...
Oct '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
John Marzan
Very, very tricky... · Jan 17 at 10:11pm
Especially when nativists are following politicians around with guns loaded with "primary challenger" bullets. I mean, I definitely want closed borders--Northern Mexico cannot take any more drug money flowing into it, and I happen to have friends there--but can we stop demagoguing the word "amnesty"?
Would it be enough if the "path to citizenship" included two years in jail, or would it still be demagogued as "AMNESTY!!!!"?
Jun '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
"Would it be enough if the "path to citizenship" included two years in jail, or would it still be demagogued as "AMNESTY!!!!"?"
Call me a nativist if you want, but I know that a special path to citizenship for illegals will only prolong the problem so my kids will have to deal with an even bigger illegal explosion. You worry about your friends in Mexico. I worry about my fellow citizens who are in danger from border drug violence. Oh, and I'm kind of fond of that pesky rule of law thing we have going here in the US.
Fruit pickers working for low wages may bring down the price of fruit, but if they are illegal and have no health insurance and bring large families they will explode the cost of health care and schooling and government services of all kinds. I'll pay more for my fruit, thanks. If the cheap labor isn't flowing in because the US makes it risky for both the labor and the firms that use them, new harvesting methods will developed to lower costs. The market always responds.
Dec '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
The low-wage argument to justify unrestricted illegal immigration is a canard, since the same people who advocate for illegal immigration also advocate for illegal immigrant workers to be brought into union contracts and thus to negate their low-wage attraction to employers.
In an era of 9.6 percent official unemployment and 16 percent real unemployment, it's not clear that there's a need to import unskilled laborers, but if there is, it should be done in a controlled fashion with clear rules about who is staying for how long: who's only here to work and who's here in hopes of immigrating.
Dec '10
Re: Hispanic Leadership Network Meets, Makes Sense. Astonishing
Joseph Eagar
Would it be enough if the "path to citizenship" included two years in jail, or would it still be demagogued as "AMNESTY!!!!"? · Jan 18 at 12:30am
Two years in jail for violating US laws on illegal entry, plus deportation -- without prejudice against the deported individual applying through regular channels for legal entry to the USA. That would be something short of amnesty.
As a practical matter, will the US ever deport its illegal alien population? Hardly likely. But if we can stop the inflow of new illegal aliens, perhaps attrition will cause an orderly reduction of the illegal alien population over time without creating too much civil strife.