The Myth Of Hispanic Conservative Legions In Waiting

The special interest groups that ceaselessly attempt to obtain some form of amnesty for millions of illegal aliens have their work cut out for them, for at least the next two years. The incoming Congress is decidedly more conservative than the last. Therefore, it is a safe guess that the next twenty two months will be filled with admonishments similar to the one that was mouthed by DREAM Act advocate Maribel Nunez, a few weeks ago:  "If Republicans want the presidency in 2012, they would have to support the DREAM Act; otherwise they could start saying goodbye to power, since they will not have the Latino vote."

Ms. Nunez is hardly alone in having made this assertion. Indeed, at different times, the notion that the GOP must support some amnesty plan to woo Hispanic voters has been suggested by Larry Elder, Colin Powell, Newt Gingrich and Abel Maldonado ... along with many others.  It's a common argument, and it also happens to be flat-out wrong.

Here's Reality Number 1 - Republicans will continue to get a minority of Hispanic votes, whether they oppose or support "comprehensive immigration reform."

And not only is this true now, it will be well into the future; no person reading this article in 2011 will likely ever experience otherwise. Further, this will probably remain true for the forseeable future despite whatever wars, recessions, natural disasters, groundbreaking technological discoveries or economic upswings may be headed our way in the coming decades.

This current state of affairs exists because ...

Reality Number 2 - Americans usually vote their pocketbooks and Hispanics, on the average, earn less than other Americans.  They commonly need exactly the type of taxpayer funded goodies to subsidize their families, that Democrats so enthusiastically hand out.

Because the bulk of the Latino population in the U.S. has been derived from chain migration policies and unlawful entry/residency, we have millions of newly arrived Have Nots and their offspring.  For a quarter century, we have been importing the impoverished and undereducated. After all, it's not the Mexican and El Salvadorean investment bankers, doctors, accountants, office managers and college professors who have been surreptitiously skittering north across Arizona deserts. And because of abysmal high school and college graduation rates, their overall socioeconomic status will not be changing any time soon.

Latinos, as a group, will mostly remain loyal to "progressive" candidates and it will have practically nothing to do with cultural or social values, religious orientation, concerns of "racism," or just about anything else you can name. It's going to be all about the green and how to get it. So the Republicans can campaign in Spanish, make nauseating speeches in front of National Council of La Raza audiences, appear at Cinco De Mayo festivals and pander in any fashion they see fit. It will all be largely for naught because the one area in which they'll never be able to match Democrats' street cred, is the success with which they give away other people's money.