Republicans: They Don’t Have an Hispanic Problem – They Have a Rick Santorum Problem

And They May Not Be Bright Enough to Realize It

In the aftermath of the election loss many Republican leaders have said that the party must change its stance on things like “self-deporting” Hispanics, or invading the privacy of people’s lives or stridently dismissing anyone who disagrees with their philosophy of tax cuts for the wealthy.  These leaders are not saying this because they believe it, but because they want to adjust their public persona to what will win elections.

But hold on here, the Republican party is not controlled by these leaders, it is controlled by the radical right, the men and women who will vote to nominate the most extreme Conservatives even if those candidates are destined to lose.  And now that extreme right is striking back, with the comforting notion (comforting to them at least) that the Republicans need to be even more extreme to win elections.

Evangelical leaders and conservative activists have a simple message for establishment Republicans about Mitt Romney’s failed presidential bid: We told you so.

After nearly two weeks of listening to GOP officials pledge to assert greater control over the party and its most strident voices in the wake of Romney’s loss, grass-roots activists have begun to fight back, saying that they are not to blame for the party’s losses in November.

Yes, contrary to the evidence right in front of them these people think the problem with the Republicans is that they were too moderate.

“The moderates have had their candidate in 2008 and they had their candidate in 2012. And they got crushed in both elections. Now they tell us we have to keep moderating. If we do that, will we win?” said Bob Vander Plaats, president of the Family Leader. Vander Plaats is an influential Christian conservative who opposed Romney in the Iowa caucuses 10 months ago and opposed Sen. John McCain’s candidacy four years ago.

Remember Rick Santorum, the ‘man on dog’ candidate whose near total focus was to enact legislation that removed the rights of gay and lesbians, well he’s not going to go away.

We do not need to have the "rebranding" vs. "purity" debate. That false choice is not what this is about. It's about the fact that a vast majority of Americans want a better life for themselves and their families. 

And what about the new Hispanic leaders in the party like Texas Senator-elect Ted Cruz, as far right a person as anyone in the Party.

Cruz falls squarely in the camp that thinks Romney was not conservative enough and did not fully articulate a conservative contrast to President Obama, except during the first presidential debate.

“It was the one time we actually contested ideas, presented two viewpoints and directions for the country,” he said at the Federalist Society’s annual dinner in Washington. “And then, inevitably, there are these mandarins of politics, who give the voice: ‘Don’t show any contrasts. Don’t rock the boat.’ So by the third debate, I’m pretty certain Mitt Romney actually French-kissed Barack Obama.”

Yep, Texas and America is going to find out that people like Mr. Cruz are what they say they are.  And in that nobody wins.