TW: This is one of those easy, no need really to ponder issues. The Republicans in 2007 and 2008 pissed on immigrants as a source of our problems. Of all of W. Bush's faults not trying to embrace immigrants was not one of them but his own party abandoned him and cut his immigration policy off at the knees.
Given demographic realities if Hispanics (and other immigrant groups) move to the Dems in big numbers along with African-Americans, gays, women, etc., then the party is over. That said while the Tancredo, Buchanan etc. forces may carry weight for another election cycle or two, they will eventually fade, they must and they always do, that is the way democracy works.
From Economist:
"TODAY...the Republican National Hispanic Assembly is leading a two-hour panel on Republicans and the Hispanic vote. Halfway through, the discussion is surprisingly raw, and the message is unambiguous—Republicans need to stop bashing immigrants or they'll lose every election.
Richard Nadler of the pro-immigration American Majority Foundation named and shamed Republicans who'd attacked immigration on the campaign trail, such as Tom Tancredo, the former congressman who worried that Miami was becoming a "third world" city. "Some people don't learn," he said, attacking "the conservative broadcast media" for blaming immigrants for America's economic woes.
Carlos Gutierrez, George W. Bush's last Secretary of Commerce, told Republicans to accept that "immigration is who we are," and that the GOP can't be the "party of prosperity" if it wants to keep away foreign workers.
George Allen, the former senator from Virginia (who lost in 2006 after slipping and racially slurring a young Indian-American Democrat), pleaded for Republicans not to look at race. "In sports, what you have is a level playing field," said Mr Allen. "You don't care about race, all you care about is who can help you win. Team America has to have that same competitive spirit!"
...Tito Munoz, a conservative construction company owner, who won brief campaign fame as "Tito the Builder," sat in the back of the room, listening in. He lives in Prince William County in northern Virginia, where local Republican leaders have passed laws punishing businesses that hire undocumented immigrants and punishing renters who let them rent apartments. "It's created a tension in the community," he said. "It's hurt the Republicans." His suggestion was for Republicans to come out for a simpler, cheaper, and more fair process for acquiring citizenship. "
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