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The Gap on Hispanic Outreach

Ruben Navarrett Jr. on

SAN DIEGO -- Sometimes you'll have a disagreement with someone but you're not that far apart.

My argument with Dallas-based radio host Chris Salcedo, who has a weekend show on The Blaze network, is not like that. On one issue, the gap is enormous: How should Republicans approach Hispanic voters? The question is tearing the GOP apart, as some candidates engage in Hispanic outreach and others disparage the very idea.

What makes the difference of opinion all the more frustrating is that Salcedo, who is also the executive director of the Conservative Hispanic Society, and I agree on three other items:

-- Hispanics are more conservative than most people realize, even though many groups that supposedly profess to represent them are liberal.

-- Hispanics have become rudderless and powerless and would be better served if they were in play politically and the parties competed for their votes, rather than being taken for granted by Democrats and written off by Republicans.

-- Liberalism undermines Hispanics, just as it does African-Americans, by fostering dependence, avoiding accountability, lowering standards and excusing bad behavior.

 

Salcedo talks about how Hispanics are firmly ensconced in the American mainstream.

"Hispanics reflect the American culture in general," he said. "This whole idea of identity politics is becoming such a relic. I don't see the Hispanic culture as any different from the American culture."

What Salcedo does see is a clear difference between the parties and what they offer Hispanics -- and everyone else.

"It's Democrats and liberals that keep the emphasis on what divides us, and not what unites us," he said. "Democrats try to get Hispanics into the fold so they can ignore them later, in between elections, which is what happens."

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