If Republicans want to score victories over the Democrats in presidential elections, they need to improve their standing among minorities, particularly Latinos.
When George W. Bush ran for re-election in 2004, he got 44 percent of the Latino vote. Bush was a champion of sweeping immigration reform; the first country he visited upon becoming president in 2001 was Mexico, not the UK, as is traditional. He wanted to be filmed riding horses at the ranch of then-President Vicente Fox. Bush and his ?strategerist? Karl Rove were determined to make Latino-Americans a GOP constituency.
The Republican far right torpedoed that plan and the post-Bush party became virulently anti-illegal immigrant ? which was widely seen as anti-Latino in general ? so much so that GOP nominee Mitt ?Self-Deportation? Romney mustered just 27 percent of the Latino vote on Nov. 6. Meanwhile, Latinos grew to 12 percent of the vote, a percentage that will increase because of natural population growth among Latino-Americans.
So how does the Republican Party change directions? One painless way to start is to claim the cause of Puerto Rico?s statehood. What? You?re not familiar with this issue? That?s because it received very little coverage on the mainland.
Puerto Ricans voted Nov. 6 in a nonbinding, two-question referendum. They voted 54 percent to 46 percent to reject the continuation of commonwealth status, under which Puerto Ricans have been American citizens since 1917. Many enlist in the armed forces, but they lack the right to vote in mainland elections and aren?t subject to the U.S. income tax.
Puerto Rico sends voting delegates to the Republican and Democratic conventions and sends a nonvoting delegate to Congress.
On the second question, 61 percent voted for statehood, 33 percent voted for something called ?free association,? and 6 percent voted to become an independent nation.
This is the first time voters on the island of 4 million have OK?d statehood in a referendum. One reason they did is the quest for more jobs. Puerto Ricans have been leaving for work on the mainland for decades. Now, 5 million Puerto Ricans live in the continental U.S.
But for statehood to become reality, Congress must approve it. Republicans have a golden opportunity to seize this issue and make it theirs. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is on board. Democrats, who fancy themselves as a rainbow coalition party, could hardly be seen standing in the way of statehood, so they?d be forced to go along.
Traditionally, pro-statehood Puerto Ricans have been conservative and pro-business, so they?d be a natural fit to become continental Republicans. But will the GOP shed its xenophobia and embrace statehood for a primarily Spanish-speaking population?
I doubt it. Too bad, though.
Ald. Bill Timm, R-9th, has taken his job very seriously over the 16 years he?s been advancing the ward?s interests at the City Council. Now Timm, 82, is packing it in. And guess what? No Democrat filed to run in the February primary. No Republican filed, either. Maybe an independent or two will step forward.
Timm has been a first-rate alderman. Retired from a career at Smith Oil, he used his time driving daily around the ward, observing the condition of streets and alleys, block by block, talking to residents about problems and riding herd on nuisance businesses, homeowners and landlords.
Timm had a close working relationship with police and with the Public Works Department, and he teamed with community service officers to nip problems in the bud. Now he laments that those officers are few and far between.
?To be very honest, we are very short of police officers,? he said. ?I don?t get time to spend with a community service officer anymore to keep the lid on my ward.?
Chuck Sweeny: 815-987-1366; csweeny@rrstar.com; @chucksweeny
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