Why The GOP Should and Should Not Listen to Karl Rove

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

I agree with Karl Rove.

So now that I’ve deliberately walked into rhetorical quicksand, and now that you’re siting there watching me sink, let me explain. I’m Texan, as is Rove, which means I should know better than to make a statement like that, wholesale.  My saving grace is that this isn’t a wholesale  pitch – I only agree with Karl on one specific thing, and only on a small part of that thing.

Rove has commented about the importance of the Latino vote for the Republican Party on many occasions – being from Texas, he gets it. But he repeated his idea this week at Harding University so it bears revisiting.  Here’s what he said, as reported by the Associated Press:

Hispanics are natural allies of the GOP and the party will be “doomed” if it alienates them.

Rove said in a speech at Harding University on Tuesday night that the party needs to avoid language that alienates Hispanic voters if it is going to grow and thrive. Rove said it’s possible for the GOP to welcome Hispanic voters while still pushing for stronger borders and immigration reform.

The GOP is doomed if it continues to alienate Latinos. Agreed.

But that’s as far as my agreement goes (And this is the point where someone out there tosses me a rope because I’m sinking fast.). The rest of Rove’s assertions are talking points from his perspective; that and a stark unintended revelation. First he says that Latinos are “natural allies” of the GOP. And I can see where he thinks that, standing where he does on a GOP pedestal. But in the midst of the Latino community his line of sight is skewed. It’s the typical “you’re like us but don’t realize it” instead of  “what can we do to be more like you?” That statement, from a Latino perspective, is condescending but he doesn’t know it.

And then there’s the tail end of his statement, the part that says that Republicans need to “avoid language that alienates Hispanics.” As if the GOP’s problems with Latinos begin and end with language; as if Latinos are gullible enough to change their political minds simply because Republicans chose to use different words.

Remember, Rove is the man who once said that in order to win elections politicians should find an issue with 80% approval, stand next to it and wave (or something to that effect). It makes tactical sense to him for the GOP to make their way towards the Latino community.  But Latinos, according to the most recent polls, are already standing next to the politicos of their choice, and they’re waving nicely.

That’s because Latino voters know that it’s about more than words, and “being like them.”