JONATHAN CHAIT JANUARY 17, 2011
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The Wall Street Journal editorial page interviews Jeb Bush, who explains who the GOP can attract Latino voters:
His insistence on engagement is not a call for multiculturalism. Quite the opposite: "The beauty of America—one of the things that so separates us [from the rest of the world]—is this ability to take people from disparate backgrounds that buy into the American ideal."
With regard to assimilation, he says, Hispanics have much to be proud of. "Second-generation Hispanics marry non-Hispanics at a higher rate than second-generation Irish or Italians. Second-generation Hispanics' English language capability rates are higher than previous immigrant groups'."
I don't mean to be oversensitive here, but it really seems as if Bush is arguing that republicans should embrace Latino immigration because Latinos are becoming less Latino and more white. Is that really a good political sales pitch?
8 comments
IT is a great sales pitch if it is pitched to the slab of conservatives not enamored of the rainbow.
- liberalref
January 17, 2011 at 10:42am
In the age of Obama, yes you are being oversensitive. Notice that Bush does not say that Latino's are marrying white people, simply that they are moving out of ethnic particularism in their marriages. They could be marrying Asians or African-Americans--and I suspect they are.
- timteeter
January 17, 2011 at 10:42am
Really they have no way to square this circle. If your base wants you to go after illegals (read Hispanics) and you are constantly running dog whistle ads against them, no occasional speech about how nice Latnios are is going to make much of a difference.
- MikeB.
January 17, 2011 at 11:24am
I think you are in fact being oversensitive. The more generous interpretation is that he's using intermarriage rates as a proxy for assimilation, which I think makes good sense. One can argue over whether assimilation is a good or bad thing but it's not evil or bigoted to treat it as a good thing.
- boyski
January 17, 2011 at 12:21pm
Was this mostly motivated by the fact that Jeb Bush himself is married to a Latina?
- cspencef
January 17, 2011 at 12:55pm
cspencef: It is conceivable, though unlikely, that Bozo was unaware that Jeb Bush is married to a Latina. More likely, he couldn't resist a chance for a cheap shot.
- lsernoff
January 17, 2011 at 10:10pm
Woah ... why the name calling?
- NR409654
January 17, 2011 at 10:21pm
I am with libref, it depends on who he is trying to sell to.
- miceelf
January 18, 2011 at 9:58am