I just read an interesting column over in the L.A. Times that makes the case that President Elect Barack Obama should send former California Governor Pete Wilson a thank you card. Here are a few excerpts from that column:
So what happened? Two things: immigration and organized labor. Beginning in 1994, when then-California Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, made support for Proposition 187 — which denied health, education and other benefits to undocumented immigrants — a centerpiece of his reelection campaign, Latinos across the country have been moving as far from Republican candidates as their legs will carry them.
To see just how far, The Times asked Loyola’s Guerra and his associate, Jennifer Magnabosco, to break out the votes of Protestant — mainly evangelical — and immigrant Latinos who voted in Los Angeles on Nov. 4. The notion was that these two groups would make up the most socially conservative members of their ethnic community.
The Loyola exit poll found that only 18% of L.A. Latinos voted for John McCain; just half of them were Protestants. That was true even though 47% of Latino Protestants favored a ballot measure that required that parents of teenagers seeking abortion be notified, and an overwhelming 61% favored the ban on same-sex marriage.
Loyola’s findings also tend to support research done by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center that shows Latino social conservatism is at its apogee in the immigrant generation — about four of 10 Latinos in the U.S. are foreign born — and declines until it becomes indistinguishable from the attitudes of white Americans in the third generation. Although 56% of L.A.’s Latino voters favored parental notification, only 40% of the native born did. Similarly, 60% of naturalized voters endorsed the ban on same-sex marriage, and 51% of the native born opposed it.
If you’re a Republican strategist, you need to weigh all this against two facts: By 2050, according to the Census Bureau, one in four Americans will be a Latino. One of the other significant trends in this election was the surge in young voters; one third of the voters under 29 were members of minority groups, mainly Latinos.
Art,
“Permanent” – really?
Protestant Latinos the “most conservative” ?? I doubt that.
Aren’t most conservative Latinos of the Catholic faith?
Nothing is permanent, but…
After Pete Wilson’s anti-immigrant campaign, Latino US citizens indeed registered to vote in large numbers, and the first thing was, they threw out B1-Bob Dornan and elected Loretta Sanchez.
While, because of their Catholic faith, the first generation of Latino immigrants tend to vote against things like gay marriage, they still vote against anti-immigrants. Granted, McCain has a pro-immigration record (he was co-sponsor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that unfortunately failed in the House), but the Republican Party platform was clearly anti-immigrant, and as long as that’s the case, immigrants, Latino or other ethnicities, are more likely to vote for the Dems.
if this would have passed maybe california would not be in the mess its in right now . more $$$$ for services that had to be cut . also i dont see the word illegal in any of the posts just the usual anti immigrant rant .
It did pass, but was unconstitutional.
Illegals, btw, don’t use much of the services, due to fear of deportation.
The hospitals in particular got hit hard because of uninsured Americans. Yet another reason for universal healthcare…
$
Hey Great One, how come you don’t say anything about all my Silvio Rodriguez posts? Don’t you hate him because he’s a commie? Or are you proud of him because he’s cubano como ti?
Hey Joe, we all know how Sanchez got elected. More votes than there were voters. Si Se Puede!