"A Coke ad crystallizes GOP’s immigration problems"

[applegrove]

A Coke ad crystallizes GOP’s immigration problems

By Michael Gerson at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-gerson-a-coke-and-a-hearty-welcome/2014/02/06/c5423584-8e98-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html

"SNIP...................................


After decades of participation and reflection, here is my proposal for the most basic truth of politics: Human beings know if they are welcome at a party or not. I imagine there are good evolutionary reasons for this — an offered mastodon steak or an offered Cosmopolitan cocktail might easily be an ambush. For this reason, effective ethnic politics (and not just ethnic politics) is actually a form of hospitality: Please make yourself at home. “People don’t care how much you know,” said my old boss, the late Jack Kemp, “until they know how much you care.”

Sometimes politics really is this simple. After all the arguments about economics and assimilation, people understand if they are viewed as a threat to the predominant culture. They know if their voice is not welcome in the national chorus. And this does have implications for political philosophy. Kemp — the GOP congressman and vice presidential candidate who described himself as a “bleeding-heart conservative” — passionately believed that human beings, as a rule, are economic and social advantages, the ultimate sources of energy, creativity and wealth. This included anyone, of any background, who happened to be in front of him and smothered by his enthusiastic attentions. Kemp strongly rejected the notion — common in every generation — that the current cohort of immigrants are somehow inferior to immigrants past.

I’m sorry to wax nostalgic — but not really. I saw how a Republican politician could treat immigrants and minorities as if they were valued national possessions. And I saw Kemp’s frustration with the direction of his party. “We sound like we don’t want immigration,” he said. “We sound like we don’t want black people to vote for us. What are we going to do — meet in a country club in the suburbs one day?”

The shift to a more welcoming GOP message toward immigrants won’t happen in a single rush. It is not reasonable to expect Boehner to buck much of his conference without broader reinforcement. This will take donors and business groups willing to support pro-reform House and Senate candidates against tea party challenges — reducing the political risks of rationality. And it will require a presidential candidate in 2016 who offers something more than walls topped in barbed wire and self-deportation. Some optimistic, inclusive, Kemp-like leadership would be helpful cover for many Republicans who wish to do the right thing, the politically smart thing, on immigration reform.




..................................SNIP"

[applegrove]

1. He hasn't got a chance of getting through to the base.

[bluestate10]

2. I agree, the republican base are predominantly a group of old, fearful people.

The young ones in the base lack a clear understanding of how the world is composed. The republican rush to deny immigrants the same chance that millions from Europe got before them will come back to bite the future republican base. When Black, Brown, the educated Young, Single Women, Indians, Chinese, Vietnamese, and other groups become the working majority, the one hope of this poster is that they don't repeat the mistakes that the majority of Whites are making now and approve attempts to deny citizens voting rights and immigrants the chance to step out if the shadows ad fully participate in the affairs of this nation. Repeating the mistakes that the majority of White voters by the "Others" once the "Others" wrest away control of voting will be a tragic and counterproductive exercise, the hope is that the "Others" will have more vision and wisdom.