Hispanics and the GOP

We've talked quite often about how the Republican position on immigration will hurt them among Hispanic voters, a demographic that is unquestionably ascendant in both state and national politics. That conversation continues to build.

One thing I find particularly interesting is that, to a great degree, the Republican Party isn't suffering due to a misguided grand legislative scheme, but because of how they keep running the collective GOP mouth about immigration. It isn't even really what they're doing, but what they're saying. Of course, by extension, what they say is what they would do, and the rhetoric has been strong enough to cause problems. The fight over who is the most anti-immigrant among Republican presidential hopefuls could result in serious damage to the party on a national scale.

Sure, Senator Mel Martinez is now the chair of the RNC, and that shows that some people at the top recognize the gravity of the situation. As the first Hispanic chairman, says the Washington Post, it is Martinez's job to sell the Republican Party to a bloc of voters that has every reason to distrust and dislike them.

I mean Hispanic voters, not Americans in general. (Rimshot.)

Honestly, I'm not sure what kind of message the Republican Party can craft that satisfies the rabidly anti-immigrant base and Hispanic voters at the same time. I don't even think it is possible. This seems like another in a series of problems with no readily available answer for the GOP, other than the total abandonment of what the xenophobia they've built themselves up on since 2001.