It isn’t as if Republicans weren’t warned.
For years — especially as conservatives’ rants against immigration seemed to lose any distinction between illegal and legal residents — Republican Hispanic media consultant Frank Guerra sounded the alarm for Republicans to back off.
As one who had worked for the 2000 and 2004 campaigns of George W. Bush, and the 2002 reelection of Bush’s brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Guerra fearedRepublicans’ harsh rhetoric on immigration would cost them the Hispanic support that was critical to the Bush victories. Bush adviser Karl Rove and 2008 Republican nominee John McCain were at the forefront of that argument but were a minority inside the GOP.
Of course, Guerra — McCain’s Hispanic media adviser this year — was proved right on Election Day.
While the economy was the top concern of Latino voters, the immigration hardliners’ rhetoric motivated them to get involved in the election.
Popularity: 12% [?]
