At this point, it’s rather unclear how Hispanics will vote this year. Barack Obama has had a hard time with this constituency, and John McCain’s record of support for legislation to grant visas to illegal immigrants may give him an edge. On the other hand, McCain has been firmer on border security — at least rhetorically — during the primary campaign. One thing is for sure though: the Democrats won’t help themselves with tone deaf performances like this. Yesterday:
The Democratic National Committee, in announcing its 2008 Hispanic Leadership Council, accused McCain of betraying Hispanics on immigration reform and failing to address critical issues such as the economy in an ad he produced in Spanish in New Mexico.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus denounced House Democratic leaders Wednesday as “spineless” and no better than Republicans for failing to take on comprehensive immigration reform. Leaders of the all-Democratic caucus, which numbers two dozen, criticized their party leadership at a news conference for scheduling hearings on enforcement legislation and specific visa issues instead.
So the DNC taps Hispanic leaders to criticize McCain for subordinating the goal of legalization to the goal of border security, while Hispanic Democrats in Congress attack the House leadership for… the same thing.
