Republicans tend to assume that immigration is the issue that most moves Latino voters. If that assumption was ever true, it is not true now. Latinos were hit hard by the economic crisis that began in 2007. They were promised “hope” by Barack Obama in 2008. Those hopes have been largely disappointed. But what are Republicans offering instead?
And to the extent that symbolic politics can sway votes, Republicans should be looking to groups more receptive to the core Republican message than Mexican-Americans are likely to be.
The Asian-American population is also growing fast, and many Asian groups — Vietnamese-Americans and Indian-Americans to name only two — are gaining their success in small business. They are natural targets for Republican recruitment…
As symbols go, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is a doozy: a brilliant policy mind with an inspirational life story who has run an effective government in corruption-tainted Louisiana. He can talk data with Romney and credibly sit at the kitchen tables of the struggling middle class.
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