Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice believes the Republican Party has an issue with the way it addresses certain demographics and the topic of immigration reform.
Rice spoke with Bob Scheiffer on CBS‘s “Face the Nation” Sunday morning, and told him that Republicans need a new game plan in those areas.
“Well, the Republican Party certainly has to stop turning off large segments of the population,” Rice said, laughing. “I’ve said, you know, it’s not a strategy to keep hoping that parts of the population don’t turn out. You’ve got to simply broaden.”
Rice said immigration was the biggest issue for Republicans, especially after some of the “bad signals” the Party has sent in the past. The failed immigration reform bill of 2007 — backed by George W. Bush, John McCain, Jon Kyl and Ted Kennedy — was a “real missed opportunity,” Rice said.
“We’ve got to get comprehensive immigration reform back on the agenda,” she said. “There are some Republicans like Marco Rubio and others who are speaking out about this because the Republican Party has to demonstrate that it has broad appeal.”
The former Secretary of State said the immigration problem was one of bad politics and bad policy, “because without immigration — robust immigration — we have the same sclerotic demographics of Japan and Europe.”
Scheiffer also announced on Sunday morning that Rice will join CBS as a contributor.
