GOP stirs media with immigration principles

The recent immigration principles presented by the House Republicans sparks an exploration of the potential undesirable effects of the changing demographics on the Republican party in a recent blog post by Joshua Holland.  Although his article on The Smirking Chimp, “The GOP Won't Pass Immigration Reform — and It Could Prove Disastrous” is thought-provoking, it is mainly speculative.  

No stranger to the world of politics, Holland is a regular blog contributor to The Smirking Chimp, author of “The Fifteen Biggest Lies About the Economy,” and host of progressive radio talk show, “Politics and Reality Radio.”  The article is aimed at readers who are likely to be politically informed liberals.  

Holland argues that Republicans are possibly alienating key constituents (young voters and minority groups) with ‘dog whistle politics’.  While he brilliantly executes a well-researched and substantial discussion regarding serious concerns for the future of the Republican party, it lacks solid evidence directly proving his main assertion.  

Kicking off the piece is a report of the Republican response to their proposed Standards for Immigration Reform which was released in January.  Citing an informal poll conducted by Roll Call, Holland notes that only 19 House Republicans responded as being openly supportive of the immigration principles.  He fails to mention that 127 have not yet responded to Roll Call.  So, how did Roll Call journalists come up with these numbers?  By combing through public statements and asking directly.  An unofficial report like this doesn’t say much and can be interpreted in a variety of ways.  

A whopping fifteen links are available to support Holland’s argument.  He touches on gerrymandering, points out the increase in racial polarization, and even cites one of his own articles about the fast-growing Asian-American population and its preference for big government that provides more services.  As if that weren’t enough, to illustrate how problematic it is for Republicans that some party members are blatantly and publicly racist, he throws in a couple of their cringe-worthy quotes and bewildering videos.  Ba-bam!

In both the headline and text, Holland is careful to write that these issues “may” and “could” lead to a decline in Republican supporters.  These words define speculation, so what we have here are several pieces of a puzzle and a persuasive expert suggesting how they fit together.  

Image Source: advancingjustice-chicago.org