Linda Chavez - Romney’s Best Bet: Embrace the Dream Act

The Hispanic voting in presidential elections has traditionally been more bipartisan than most people realize. Upward of 30 percent of Hispanics voted for Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush (1988) and George W. Bush, with Reagan and George W. Bush winning more than 40 percent in their re-election bids. But since Republican candidates decided to make illegal immigration a wedge issue in recent elections, Hispanics have been fleeing the G.O.P. This year doesn’t bode well either.

In an effort to woo conservatives needed to secure the nomination, Mitt Romney took tough rhetorical stands on illegal immigration. He suggested that the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. should "self-deport," a fantasy that, if it came true, would devastate the American economy. And he counted some of the nastiest anti-immigrant characters around among his supporters, including Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona.

But all is not lost. While Romney may favor “self-deportation,” President Obama has actually deported more illegal immigrants than any president in history — and he’s done so without regard to whether deportation splits families that include U.S. citizens. And the president has done almost nothing to advance immigration reform, never making it a top legislative priority or using any political capital even when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress.

Romney’s best bet if he wants to soften his image is to embrace the Dream Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants who came here as children if they join the military or attend college for at least two years. If he doesn’t, he could lose not just the overwhelming majority of Hispanic votes, but also the election.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/05/23/securing-the-hispanic-vote/romneys-best-bet-to-win-hispanic-voters-embrace-the-dream-act

Obviously, Chavez is urging Mitt to do this for political reasons, not for the merits of the policy. It seems to me that he has to jettison the teabaggers/Kobach/Arpaio/ALEC anti-immigrant wing of the party if he has any hope of winning over even a significant minority of the Hispanic vote.

He probably will end up doing something like this, thinking that the base will still vote for him because the hate Obama so much.