It’s about R-E-S-P-E-C-T

[Valin]

National Review:

Immigration reform is not a magic pill for winning minority votes.

Avik Roy

2/7/13

 

‘We’ve got to get rid of the immigration issue altogether,” said Sean Hannity in the aftermath of the election. “It’s simple for me to fix it . . . it’s got to be resolved . . . first secure the border, pathway to citizenship, done, you know whatever little penalties you want to put in there, if you want, but then it’s done.” Hannity speaks for many Republicans in hoping that passing that bill will improve the GOP’s competitiveness with Hispanics. Done. But courting Hispanics by passing an immigration bill is like courting a woman by e-mailing her your LinkedIn profile.

 

(Snip)

 

Bush wasn’t fluent in Spanish, but he made the effort to reach out to Latinos in the language of their culture, which naturally earned their respect. He spoke sympathetically of immigrants’ aspirations, instead of stereotyping them as welfare moochers. Conservative Hispanics don’t tend to be welfare moochers. And if there’s one thing people hate, it’s being presumed guilty of something they have never done.

 

(Snip)

 

Canadian conservatives seem to have figured this out. In 2006, ethnic minorities voted Liberal over Conservative by a ratio of three to one. Incredibly, by 2008, Conservatives had reached parity with Liberals on that measure. How did they do it? Not by caving on policy, but by showing up.

 

Jason Kenney — Canada’s “Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism” — logged long hours, and millions of frequent-flyer miles, asking Canada’s minority groups what was important to them. Among other things, he conducted focus groups in minority languages, because people are more likely to be frank when speaking in their native tongue.

 

(Snip)