Why are the Repubs pushing immigration?
Charity, humility, and kindness? Or pro-war, pro-torture, anti-minority?
Jesus would roll over in his grave. Well, it's just a figure of speech.
In the immigration debate, for example, white evangelicals took the hardest line of any religious group towards immigrants, with 63 per cent agreeing that newcomers posed a threat to traditional American values, compared with 39 per cent of seculars.
Jesus would roll over in his grave. Well, it's just a figure of speech.
posted by mikevotes at
12:08 PM
8 Comments:
That is kind of surprising, especially since the immigrants that come from Mexico are overwhelmingly Catholic. I could understand white evangelicals voting that way if the majority of them were from the Middle East, but otherwise it doesn't make sense.
It's possible they're thinking about the sin of doing something illegal, no matter what the reason. It's the same viewpoint that leads many of them to conclude abortion is wrong even to save a mother's life.
By
Kathy, at 2:30 PM
I think you give them too much credit. Personally, I feel that alot of the evangelical movement is a "people like us" movement.
A group of predominantly white middle class people who feel under threat that "their country is being taken away." They gravitate towards the evangelical churches because they offer certainty of belief. I don't know exactly where the underlying insecurity comes from, but these people are the prime market for politics of fear, whether it's the overt "security blanket president" or the overt politics of bigotry, "the gay agenda," "secular humanism," or immigrants that are coming to destroy them.
It may be part of a greater undercurrent as whites slowly lose their majority status, I don't know, but I do think it's telling that their main issues are from the what people can't do, rather than a message of prosperity, charity, and love.
And, let me say, I am throwing all evangelicals into one basket here, and they actually represent a very broad spread of ideas. My main exposure to them is several I know from one of the local megachurches, 20,000+ at the services. It's actually frightening how much race comes up in their conversations about politics. It's not overt, that black people are bad or that immigrants are bad, it's more of the "they don't share the same ethics we do."
They believed that Iraq was tied into 9-11 and that we should be suspicious of all arabs and support the war in Iraq. They try to stop objectionable material from being broadcast because it might corrupt their children. They are just fearful of the world touching them. It's a very strange phenomena.
Several times I have tried to write a macro post on this, but I just can't put a finger on the root cause.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 3:03 PM
I think you both missed the point entirely. While the majority of Mexicans may be Catholic, thumpers do not view Catholicism as true Christianity, more as idolatry. Evangelicals have Vatican envy, look at the palaces they build in Jesus' name, all in an attempt to rival the Catholic Church.
By
Lew Scannon, at 3:45 PM
True, Lew, but I don't really think it's an issue of religious bigotry, I think it's bigotry dressed up as religion. I don't think it matters what religion the immigrants are. I think it's that they do not look like the vast majority of evangelicals.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 5:42 PM
I believe that the republicans have calculated that the only way to energize their base and draw independent voters for this election cycle, they must aggressively support border security and oppose any appearance of offering amnesty to illegal aliens. Their fear of loss is so great that they are willing to risk their long term plans to secure the Hispanic vote.
Consider their perceived need to distance themselves from Bush. What better way to out ‘macho’ Mr. Macho than to be more muscular on border security and amnesty. A fight with the White House over the immigration issue is a winner.
Illegal immigration also stokes anger and fear among Independent voters who see it as an assault on the middle class. While there are many causes for stagnation of the middle class, the sight of illegal immigrants protesting with Mexican flags is too convenient not to exploit.
As in previous elections, republicans really do not care why evangelicals or Independents support them on any particular position, they just want them angry and at the polls on November 7. I foresee some nasty campaign ads on this issue.
By
Anonymous, at 5:53 PM
Mustard you've got it right on about burning the long term hispanic vote just for this election. In Nixon's Southern Strategy the Republican's rewrote their base to include the(let's call it nativist) white southern majority. And, now to access that vote, they have to go to issues of soft bigotry.
And, you're right, it's a great get out the vote issue in a midterm when that really matters.
And I do think there is real potential for some ugly ads from desperate Republicans.
My curious question is if the Dems come in more liberal on this issue if some of the big business money might start flowing to them. They don't even have to claim amnesty, just be to the left of the Repubs. And that could make a huge difference in 2008.
Because the Dems have the voters if they can just engineer turnout. Bush 2004 took almost every Republican voter out there.
Mike
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mikevotes, at 8:53 PM
Mike, that is a great point about increasing political contributions from businesses because of a more moderate immigration policy. I have read that recent contributions from big business to the Democrats have been increasing. They are probably covering their bets on an unpredictable outcome, but I also think they are having some heartburn with the direction of the fundamentalist faction of the Republican Party.
Hispanics are important to business; you know that they must be very nervous. If the political ads are too strident, Hispanics voters will likely take it very personally. The republicans may find that they have energized the wrong voters.
This issue may give them large turnout in districts that they would carry regardless, but may kill them in close districts. This will be fun to watch for all of us political junkies.
By
Anonymous, at 10:09 PM
My guess is the shift in corporate money thus far is more a hedging of bets. If the Dems take control, I don't think you want to be the industry that didn't give.
I'll be really curious to see how immigration affects turnout. It seems awfully early to get the anti immigration repubs fired up, but the hispanics will certainly stay mad.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 11:34 AM
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