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By Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.com

   

    April 15, 2010

Buchannan: Immigrants are the cause for the demise of the Republican Party.

By Patrick Osio

On a recent article, Patrick Buchannan whined that the “demise” of the Republican Party in recent years is attributed to immigration of the legal kind. Those new immigrants he outlines in painstaking detail are voting Democratic as soon as they become citizens.

Of course the message is simple – it’s not the Republican Party’s fault that first generation immigrants on becoming citizens choose the Democratic Party. It’s obviously the fault of the government for allowing immigration. According to the absurd argument, no immigration would spell Republican victory.

Buchannan takes his cue from a study titled, "Immigration, Political Realignment and the Demise of Republican Political Prospects," published by the Center for Immigration Studies, a would be “neutral and non-partisan” group better known as a puppet organization of its founder John Tanton of eugenic preaching fame.

The CIS report indicates that since 1980, 25.2-million immigrants have entered the US legally as permanent residents on the path for eventual citizenship. Thus the more immigrants in an electorate district the grimmer for the Republican Party candidates, Buchannan argues.

As is customary for CIS, the report’s statistics provide only figures supporting their anti immigrant philosophies’ leaving out crucial information that discards their poor excuse for yet one more assault on immigration.

For starters Los Angeles is used as the number 1 example. Here is what Buchannan wrote, “Between 1980 and 2008, Los Angeles, No. 1, grew by 2.5 million to 10 million people. The immigrant share went from 22 percent to 41 percent. Over those decades, the GOP share of the presidential vote fell from 52 percent in Ronald Reagan's rout of Jimmy Carter to 29 percent for John McCain.”

Left out is that Richard Riordan, a Republican, was Los Angeles mayor for 8 years from 1993 to 2001; and ignoring that in 1997, he won reelection by more than 60 percent of the vote.

As for presidential elections, Buchannan is right writing that Reagan won California in 1980, but ignored he repeated again in 1984. And, completely left out that George H.W. Bush carried California in 1988 as well as the two other states Buchannan claims have been lost to Republicans due to immigrants turned voting citizens.

Completely left out was that in 1992 it was not immigrants who turned against Bush, rather old time Republican members themselves who bolted the GOP to follow Ross Perot. It was the split of the Republican vote that gave the victory to Clinton, and again in 1996. And of course, Buchannan also forgets he did his bit in splitting the Republican vote as he too attempted to win the nomination in 1992 and in 2000 ran in place of Perot.

As far as California is concerned, 1980 entered with a Democratic governor, Jerry Brown, (since immigrants was not then the CIS/Buchannan factor how did Brown win?), but was then unseated by Republican George Deukmejian in 1983, winning reelection serving until 1991. He was succeeded by another Republican, Pete Wilson, in 1991 serving two terms until 1999. A Democrat won but wore out his welcome and was quickly succeeded by yet another Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger who will give up his post in 2011.

Clearly the CIS report is faulty, but this is no surprise to most. In the period mentioned – 1980 – 2010 – 30 years Republicans have held the White House for 20 years and could have, should have, been another 4 if not for the Perot interference. And in California the state mansion has been held by Republicans during that same period for 25 years.

Yet according to Buchannan, “The more immigrants who come in and become citizens, the more Democratic the country becomes. Why? Almost all immigrants, legal and illegal, are poorer and less skilled than Americans, and depend far more upon government.”

No Republican mea culpa here, obviously, he feels it’s wrong for the government to help and no Republican worth his salt would ever consider this good policy. Of course, we are also asked to believe that pre-1980 immigrants arrived with university diplomas in hand, speaking perfect English and right into high paying jobs.

It apparently does not occur to Buchannan that the reason why immigrants lean towards Democrats is simply because a sector of extremists in the Republican Party have high jacked the heart of the party and whose insulting rhetoric branding people whose crime   seeking economic opportunity was to enter the country without proper documentation, as “scum,” “rapists,” “criminals of the worst kind,” “society’s leeches,” and far worse coupled with inhuman treatment and abuse is the cause.

Does it dawn on Buchannan that even legal immigrants who have become citizens in the last 20 years and those in the process of obtaining citizenship have not forgotten why they came to the United States and why they are becoming citizens?

The problem is not immigrants, Mr. Buchannan; it is the segment of the Republican Party you represent.

Patrick Osio is the Editor of HispanicVista.com and Vice President of the Baja California Medical Tourism Association. Contact at POsioJr@aol.com or at Posio@aol.com

 

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written a short but intensive manual on the Mexican perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The manual is an in depth primer on the culture and protocol for better understanding Mexicans that in turn allows establishing personal and business relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin relationships and business deals.

For information on purchasing, write to HVCstore@aol.com

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