Can the Republicans win back the White House in 2012 or 2016 while losing further ground among Latinos?...---Political statistician/FiveThirtyEight.com founder Nate Silver describes the almost impossible situation the GOP faces of winning future presidential elections while Latino support diminishes. (Read his detailed post for more details about what he deems as “Operation Gringo”).
I think the answer to the…question is 'yes' -- although it depends, of course, on exactly how much more ground they lose, as well as how much ground they could hope to gain among white voters. If they chose to pursue this strategy, the Republicans would probably elect to make immigration a linchpin issue of their campaign, perhaps coupled with the adoption of some paleoconservative, protectionist rhetoric on issues like NAFTA. While this strategy would be at best a temporary fix -- it would become less effective each passing year as the country continues to grow more diverse -- it might have some strategic benefits in the next two elections, particularly if the economy remains poor or there is some sort of double-dip recession.
As we’ve mentioned before, some Republican politicos are worried that their party is alienating the Latino vote and increasingly ignoring a chief electoral demographic.
(Hat tip: The Daily Dish).
Image- New York Sun (Republican presidential candidate John McCain spoke at the League of United Latin American Citizens conference last July).
Online Sources- The Daily Dish, FiveThirtyEight.com, The Latin Americanist
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