Ok, I had to take a few days to go through the three stages of grief, but now I’m good! Americans chose the path they wanted, which is more government, and all we can do as conservatives is do a better job at making our case for free markets, less dependence, & morality. I don’t do this for me. My life will not change. My husband I have worked hard and saved hard for 30 years. He helped build his own company, and no one can lay him off. But sadly, that’s not true for employees of the fortyfive companies in the fortyeight hours after the election that announced layoffs. And that’s just the beginning. Obamacare will ensure that continues. This is why I have been an activist. I want America to prosper and thrive again. And it will. We have survived worst than Obama. We will get through this together.
Now, let me get to today’s post. Republicans are pointing fingers at all kinds of reasons for our lost. Some say it was our candidate. Not true. We could not have nominated a better man. A really good smart moral man, who has been generous his whole life with his time and his money. The distortions of the Obama campaign about Romney were believed, and I don’t think the Romney campaign understood that (Best post election piece on why we lost is here). But, the truth is there is one segment of our country that could have made all the difference…Hispanics. And we blew it with them.
Here is where I have always differed from my conservatives friends. I have long said that we ignore Hispanics at our own peril. I written before that if we don’t reach out and bring in the Hispanic community into the Republican party, we will never win the White House again. We seem to do a great job with our leadership by electing wonderful Latino leaders like Marco Rubio, Susanna Martinez, Luis Guillermo, and Ted Cruz, but we do a lousy job at reaching out. Pres. George Bush seemed to be the only one who really did this, and he did it well. His brother Jeb Bush, is now the voice that speaks for Republicans like myself.
At the time Pres. Bush proposed immigration reform the GOP let loud, and frankly anti immigrant voices, control the narrative, and the reform was defeated. How different things would be if we had only passed that reasonable, important legislation. I heard Sean Hannity on the radio yesterday that his feelings on the issue had evolved, and now he thinks we should seal up the border in a real way, and then allow those illegal immigrants here to get on the pathway to citizenship. That’s a start. I know all the arguments against it. I realize that the border must be first. But we have kicked this can down the road for far too long, and it has hurt us, and it has now hurt America. It’s time to change the way you think if you don’t want “amnesty.” The children of illegal immigrants born here are now grown, some graduated college, in the only country they have ever known, and they have to live without citizenship or even a green card. That is wrong. You may argue that it was wrong for their parents come here illegally, and you would be right, but that doesn’t change the reality of how our government allowed it, and they have lived and worked here for decades.
I’ve written about this so many times, talked about this so many times, and the establishment GOP has long ignored voices like mine. Now, it seems they understand that maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. Rush Limbaugh said yesterday that studies showed that Hispanics didn’t vote on the immigration issue, but on the issue of a bigger government. Well, why does he think that is??? It’s the only thing they hear or know. We never go out into the communities with our message, with our beliefs, with our vision. We never buy ads on Spanish radio or TV. We never go door to door during an election. The only thing they hear is the distortion of our beliefs by the other side and the media. I have been friends with many Hispanics in the Tea Party. I have seen them try to work with the GOP establishment, and they are ignored over and over. It is beyond frustrating.
This has to change. Now. Hispanics, illegal or not, are a part of America. They are here to stay. Yes, we need to stop illegal immigration. That must come first, but we have to make things right here in America with the entire Hispanic community. They are a rich part of the hardest working part of America. How many times have we conservatives touted the greatness of hard work, community, and taking care of each other? No one illustrates those three things as much as the Hispanic community.
The moment is now. We do this, or we stand by and watch America become something we don’t recognize. Even if you don’t agree with me on this issue, the fact remains it has to be done. Even if you don’t agree with me on this issue, the fact remains that we will be a better party, a more inclusive party, and a better people if we welcome, reach out, and show we care to the Latino community.
I was so proud that Ted Cruz won Tuesday night. When I first interviewed him at a local Republican Women’s Club luncheon. No one had heard of him, and his first child was still a baby, but I knew he would be our Senator. I knew that he was exactly what the GOP needed. But we need more than Latino leaders, we need Latino voters.
The GOP wakes up on this, or we continue to lose. It’s that simple.