A Latino strategy for the democrats

By
Max J. Castro                                          

                        Read Spanish Version

majcastro@gmail.com

According
to the Los
Angeles Times, “Republicans
have chosen Jeff Sessions to be their leader on the Senate Judiciary
Committee, making the conservative Alabaman the public face of the
GOP during coming battles over immigration and the next Supreme Court
nominee.”

And
what a public face it will be! Indeed, the choice of Sessions to
replace Arlen Specter could not be better news when it comes to
driving the final nail in the Republican quest for the Latino vote,
especially if President Obama nominates New York judge Sonia
Sotomayor
to replace David Souter on the Supreme Court.

The
ultra-conservative Sessions has been a vociferous opponent of
comprehensive immigration reform and a proponent of hard-line
immigration policies. Sessions has been described as “having
virulently opposed the massive [immigration] reform bill that failed
to pass the Senate two years ago.”

For
a generation ago, the Republican Party was propelled to predominance
by the racist “Southern Strategy.” Now the Democrats have a
chance to ride to power for the next few decades on the force of an
anti-racist Latino strategy.

The
best way for Democrats to ensure Republicans become a permanent
minority is to deepen Latino disaffection for the GOP while providing
opportunity for both individual and group advancement. Barack Obama
has a chance of making the 2008 GOP disaster regarding the Latino
vote a permanent feature of the U.S. political landscape if he is
able to engineer passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill,
especially if it comes over the loud objections of the likes of
Sessions and others in the GOP anti-immigration camp. The success of
comprehensive immigration reform in Obama’s first term will not
only energize today’s Latino electorate, it will ensure a steady
stream of grateful Democratic votes for decades to come as those who
regularize their status and become citizens join the electorate.

The
selection of the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court would do a lot
to seal the deal. Sotomayor, 54, and of Puerto Rican heritage, has
been on the bench for nearly 20 years. She would be the first
Hispanic and only the third woman on the Supreme Court. A product of
the gritty New York City public housing projects, Sotomayor studied
at Princeton and graduated from Yale Law School and was named to the
bench by George H.W. Bush and to the appeals court by Bill Clinton.
Such bipartisan credentials and her compelling story of success
against the odds should make it more difficult for Republicans to
throw roadblocks. But one can always count on Sessions and other
fierce ideologues on the right to raise a ruckus. The louder the
clamor of the xenophobes, the better it will be for the Democratic
Party.

Barack
Obama has four years to consolidate and expand the large Latino
preference for himself and the Democratic Party. In 2008, the
Republicans had become anathema to the Latino electorate to the point
that Obama captured two thirds of the vote without a real
high-powered outreach to the community. Now, by painting the
Republicans into a corner of their own making and through strategic
policies and key appointments, Obama can seal the deal between the
Latino electorate and the Democratic Party for a generation.