Burning Atlanta

Seems like two different trains of thought driving this. One seems to be a fear that if they oppose an amnesty then that will cost them the Hispanic vote. I think that's a common myth. From the way American citizens of Hispanic descent voted on Props in Arizona, it's obvious that Hispanics are not in lockstep. Plenty of American Hispanics oppose amnesties and special treatment of illegals. There's also the fear that if they don't support this the dems will pass it anyway and gain the Hispanic vote for years to come or those amnestied are going to vote for democrats, regardless.

The other part that rips at the GOP is knowing that many of their members who support fair play and the rule of law are raising hell. Yes, the politicians are trying to put pretty wrapping on a turd but it's still a turd, and the people smell it.

GOP. What do we do?

By Peter Wallsten

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON – The roiling congressional debate over a plan to legalize undocumented immigrants has rekindled a bitter fight within the Republican Party over the best strategy for restoring the GOP to political dominance – with each side accusing the other of following a course that would destroy the party for decades to come.

The clash has grown increasingly intense in recent days, drawing in the most-senior figures in Republican politics. President Bush aimed unusually pointed language at critics, many within his own party, who oppose a more permanent status for illegal immigrants.

Many Republican strategists and Bush allies blame the party’s election losses last year in part on Hispanic voters who fled the GOP amid a flurry of anti-illegal immigration ads by some of the party’s candidates. They say Republicans cannot hope to win a national majority without substantial support from the fast-growing Hispanic voting bloc.

“I believe that not to play this card right would be the destruction of our party,” said Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., the Cuban-born chairman of the Republican National Committee, who helped write Senate legislation creating a path to citizenship for most of the nation’s 12 million illegal immigrants. “Hispanics make up about 13 percent of our country and by 2020 will be more like 20 percent. It is a demographic trend that one cannot overlook.”

Directing his criticism squarely at Limbaugh, Martinez added: “He has emotion on his side, but I think I have logic on mine.”

Conservatives and many opinion leaders argue, however, that backing the immigration bill is a dangerous course, because it angers the GOP’s mostly white base, as well as swing voters who are open to the party’s message of national security and law enforcement.

Some also argue that new immigrants are more likely to vote Democratic, so it makes little sense to increase their numbers. On his radio show, Limbaugh, with an estimated 13 million listeners each week, described the Senate legislation as Democrats “getting a brand new electorate, reshaping it and being able to win election after election after election.”