Something the Democrats did following their loss in 2000 was to steep itself in far left ideology, they did not consider Bush a legitimate President and went to war with him. The left’s policy in 2004 with the American right was “quid pro quo,” you exposed the lack of character with Clinton out and so we’re going to find a reason to find a lack of character in Bush and criticize the right. While Barack Obama, from his past positions, seems to be the furthest left candidate, the Democratic party as a whole has widened it’s tent. The majority in Congress is not a “progressive majority” depsite Nancy Pelosi’s strong arm, a good number of the Democrats that have been elected ran on conservative principles.

While we need to reposition ourselves back to conservatism, I think the President is right in that we need to find ways to reach out to people we have lost. We need to tone down the immigration rhetoric, not change our policy. When there are morons who talk about Hispanics wanting to “come in here and soak up our social services,” we need to tell them that they need to go and talk to hispanics. Most hispanics came here illegally because of the promise of the American dream and take advantage of social services like education because they want a better life for their children. We need to stop calling pro-Amnesty politicians hispanic names (i.e. Juan McCain), that is very offensive to hispanic people. The way some on the very far right describe hispanics, you’d think they were hell bent on destroying America.

I live in California, which has one of the largest Hispanic populations in the country and most Hispanics I know are great people and proud Americans. They assimilate into American culture by the second or third generation they are here and they love their families. In California (indeed in America), the best aspects of their culture have become our own, not in a pathetic “multicultural” way, but in a way that strengthens American cutlure as a whole. What would America be like without Mexican food? Latin music and salsa dancing? Some of America’s greatest pop-culture icons are hispanic– Desi Arnez, Gloria Estafan, Johnny Mathis, Andy Garcia, etc.

We need to take our message to Hispanic voters (i.e. people that are actually supposed to be American citizens anyway.) We need to bring them our pro-family message, we need to talk about the importance of faith in our party and traditional values. We need to talk about how we like to honor hard work and perseverence and perfer to let individuals make decisions for themselves rather than others. Most importantly however, we need to let legal Hispanics know that illegal immigration puts their future in jeopardy. We need to talk to them about the importance of enforcing the laws on the books. We also need to sit down with hispanic people and talk to them about their thoughts and concerns. The GOP needs to address this problem, or we will find ourselves in a situation similar to the black vote– where the Democratic party gets a 85%+ of one segment of the population. It’s not about comprimising our principles, but taking those very principles, apply them to the issues these people face, talk with them not at them (Democrats talk at minority groups, we need to show them more respect than that.) and be confident in our message. The rest will take care of itself.