Republican minority outreach already ending?

That is the question. Republicans had apparently realized after the election that the changing demographics for this country are not going to help them win anymore elections. However, it seems now that the Republicans aren't even trying to pretend that they're serious.

The question is if you believe that Republicans are actually going to go through with their plan or if they're going to fall back on their "Southern Strategy". For those unfamiliar this is the basic feeling that has of course been expanded to include "illegal aliens".

"From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don't need any more than that...but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That's where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats.^[2]"

red vs blue distraction politics

American politics on Giant Bomb. This has literally never gone bad before.

I have faith that this will go well. There is no denying the voting strategies employed in the last election and with Rubio making an actual effort in trying to gain support from his own party for the immigration bill I think this is the perfect time to discuss this.

Will Rubio succeed and take a leadership position in his party for embracing minorities or is he going to get the boot like Michael Steele?

Oh man. Usually this shit quickly devolves into name-calling and "HURRRUMPH HURRUMPH"'ing but now race is involved so this thread has just become a whole new shitstorm. Officially monitoring.

@golguin: What do you mean? Your title seems to suggest that Republican minority outreach may be already ending, but then you didn't cite why you would say that. Then you did mention Rubio, who certainly continues to try to encourage minority outreach. So, I'm not sure I'm getting your assertion here.

As far as my opinion regarding it, well, I'd say many Republicans certainly will try to improve things. Unfortunately, the top movers and shakers(the 1% of either Party with much real influence) seem much less enthused by the idea. They basically seem to feel defeated, believing that minorities will always prefer Democrats. And I think that's a clear mistake. Fortunately, many other Republicans have voiced that it would be a mistake to just write off big portions of the population. Republicanism has championed minorities before, and they can certainly do so again. Though, that takes something that scares the ones with the most influence. Real, sincere change. As such change will probably mean a lessening of their power. Everyday Republicans I know are much more interested in an ideal of what "Republican" is supposed to mean, and I think their views on government can be very attractive to people of all cultures. The only issue is the Republican establishment's dogged efforts to keep down local voters and limit grassroots appeals for reform in the Party.

Whether someone is a Democrat, Republican, or otherwise, they should hope that either the establishment will eventually wake up and take reform seriously or everyday Republicans get more influence in the Party's direction. Because a better Republican Party is better for the nation as a whole.

Though, I might add, this is perhaps one of the worst places to discuss this, as Giant Bomb is hardly a very diverse or even-handed community. heh. I like the people around here, but if you're expecting reasonable analysis of modern Republicanism from fellow duders, I think you will most-likely be greatly mistaken. I'm not quite sure what you're expecting from this, but besides a few alright comments that may pop up by chance, I imagine most will just be dismissive or insulting. So, if you just want to have a circle-jerk of griping about Republicans, I think you'll probably succeed, but if you want some real analysis, you may be a bit hard-pressed to find it. Not that it'd necessarily be easy to find elsewhere of course.

Still, hey, one can dream. So, I fully support you throwing caution to the wind and shooting for the stars!

Republican minority outreach already ending?

That implies it ever truly began.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/18/immigration-bill-opposition_n_3109770.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/18/rubio-defends-immigration-bill-ahead-hearing-critics-cite-enforcement-concerns/

I am referring to those two articles when I said that minority outreach was already ending. I've seen several people defend Conservative values in other topics so I'm curious to see what they think about this issue. It's obvious that it's going to pass sooner or later. The question is when and if the Republicans are going to play ball or if they're going to be dragged kicking and screaming.

Referencing both Huffington Post and Fox News in one post is like crossing the streams.

How old is the OP, like 70? Who the hell still refers to black people as negroes?

Not his words. Read again. It's a quote with a citation.

I figured that's what you might be referring to, thus my mention of establishment Republicans' fears regarding whether any action would simply hurt their chances in the future. Though, I think it's a pretty narrow view to regard one specific immigration bill as representative of the entire Party's interests in reaching out to minorities. It's about a lot more than just whether they specifically like this one bill.

It does though speak to the concern I raised. There's a bit of a defeatist attitude to some of these powerful Republicans, as they don't even want to touch immigration reform because they think it won't help them. They believe that any compromise would simply be seen as a victory by President Obama, and in a way, they are correct. Most-likely, people in the media and many around the nation would consider it primarily as a victory for the Democrats. Fortunately, some Republicans like Rubio have seen that such a fact shouldn't be at the forefront of deciding whether to support legislation like this. He sees that it's the right thing to do, and as long as -nothing- is done, Democrats are simply the de facto winners on the issue.

While any eventual legislation would be seen as a Democratic victory, it would also damage a big barrier that Republicans have willfully allowed Democrats to build for decades now. A lot of the US immigrant population has conservative ties, but due to this perceived opposition from Republicans, there's little that can be done. And that Republican opposition reached new heights ever since Federal agencies failed them following the efforts on behalf of immigrants from President Reagan(Republicans supported mass amnesty for undocumented immigrants in exchange for dedications to improve border security and enforcement that never materialized). This has led to a paranoia amongst many Washington Republicans that unless there is concrete, absolute action on security and enforcement, they are afraid that they'll just have this same issue pop up again in another ten years. At the moment, though, they have to recognize the writing on the wall and work seriously to get immigration reform. It's something that has stalled for far too long, and even if they lose to some extent, it will at least stop the bleeding. And, practically, it would help many people. The current bill in Congress is rather moderate I'd say, and I think it should be the minimum of what is done. If these power players are smart, they'll realize that younger Republicans, the future of the Party, are much more in favor of immigration reform, and if they don't accept something like this now, they're going to find an even more left-leaning bill in two years.

If this bill dies, though, I don't believe their minority outreach would end. It would certainly hurt it, but they're still going to be making an effort in that direction. The "Southern Strategy" isn't realistic anymore, and of Republicans I know, the idea of it is simply outdated and repugnant. While I know some Party heavy hitters have believed such tripe, I haven't seen such a belief amongst many everyday people. Especially not ones under the age of 60. The future is elsewhere, and there is no sliding back to that. The Party is just in an odd transition period where establishment Republicans want to both use local conservatives while keeping them down in their place. They can be radical, only as long as they're not too radically different from the Party line. And while that shift is happening in States and local races, Congress is still steadfastly held by people who seem to long for a bygone era thirty years in our past. And sooner or later, they'll have to see that the Party can't just focus on returning to something in the past when Republicanism should be driven by an individual's desire to pick oneself up and make something with the reality in front of them. They have to think about what the government can be, not just what it was.

Maybe things are bad with minorities now, but they want to have a free society that they can succeed in just as much as anyone else. And the unalienable rights at the heart of what the government should protect belong to all people; they are specifically established to defend any minority from the whims of a majority that might act against them. And if Republican leaders can stop stumbling over themselves long enough to remember what the Party is supposed to be about, they can be a real part of America's continued growth as a nation.

I know that's a lot to say, but you asked nicely. ha. I've just listened to the concerns of many of the Democrats and Republicans around me, and it's interesting to consider their real feelings and hopes vs what seems to be shown on cable news and the impressions we often get from the loudest people online.

In light of the Boston bombers being from Chechnya I feel that Conservatives have even more reason to oppose any changes to immigration.

Any thoughts on this new development?

The main reason for their opposition to immigration in the past has been the fear of white males getting outnumbered and being turned into a political minority in this country. Now they're really looking at that situation happening--for many reasons but not least because they were afraid to regulate businesses who continued to benefit from cheap immigrant labor all these years.

Their only 2 options now are to slide into a state of denial and become politically insignificant or to decide whether their economic and national security issues are more important than their anglocentric BS and truly embrace other races. The problem is that after decades of excluding people, it's incredibly hard to convince them that you're sincere about wanting to be their best friend, especially when they know you are only doing it because you desperately need their votes.

I haven't seen much proof of backsliding so far from people like Rubio. It seems more like a split in the party with one group that sees the reality of the situation and another, more stubbron side thinking they can maintain the status quo.

Come on, GOP. Time to double down on the white man this coming election season.

Oddly enough, I haven't really heard this sentiment. I've actually heard more conservatives saying we shouldn't jump to conclusions on this one and wait until more information is known about the motivations. Since these were naturalized citizens here for many years and certainly not here illegally, I really don't think it will have any impact on current discussions of immigration reform. Especially when immigration reform had little to do with people like these two suspects. It might be mentioned by a pundit or two, but I don't think it will have an actual impact on that specific issue.

I think the big question that will be raised is regarding the clear failure here to catch them before it happened. The FBI was tipped off to the older suspect and interviewed him two years ago on suspicions that he might be connected to radical Islamic groups. Yet, they didn't catch him then. What could they have done differently to have caught him sooner? Did they not keep up with him afterward? These are the kinds of questions federal authorities will have to consider in light of this.

The republican party has a lot of soul searching to do in the next several years.

Considering a Republican said terrorists are pretending to be Mexican and crossing the border, they're not doing themselves any favors.

If you speak Spanish, we still say negro, which is close, I guess.

It was a quote that used the word "negro". That's why the phrase is quoted and has a citation.

@golguin: I actually understood that. I was answering the question who might still use that term.

I don't think either party is objectively "right" but the pubbies could serve to come up with some compromises to appeal to more young people; emphasize greed and the corporate culture (young people are generally stupid enough to still like/love money first and foremost) and start sort of ignoring their religious constituents until they become particularly fickle; embrace the green movement even if it's just a facade. Maybe publicly distance themselves from Fox News/Rush Limbaugh while quietly funneling them more funds.

I've been a bit behind on my political news with the Boston Bombing craziness, but I finally saw the al-Qaeda Mexicans comment.