Republican Messaging: Illegal Immigration
Messaging can be everything. No, wait, it is everything. How one answers a question, the way a person frames a policy stance, facial expressions while on television, or even something as simple as the choice of a single word can make or break any candidate or political cause.
Consider messaging this…it is the presentation put into the packing of the gift that you place under the Christmas tree. The prettier the wrapping paper and the bigger the bow on top, the more likely your child is to flock to it, and welcome its contents with open arms.
Since we’re entering a campaign season that should be filled with hot races on both the state and federal level, I decided to write a series on the areas where I think the Republican Party is behind its liberal counterpart in messaging. And what better issue in Texas to lead off with than…
Illegal Immigration
Man, have we been beaten down here, bad. Forget the spin job and ducking of the true issue that Democrats have done, Republicans are actively hurting themselves here.
In my opinion, our problem starts with our spokesmen. Leo Berman, Bill Zedler, and Dan Patrick all need to let go of the mic because when they talk about stronger border security, deportation, and cracking down on illegal hiring practices they collectively look like grumpy old white men who don’t like people who speak another language.
The end result…legal immigrants frown upon Republicans on illegal immigration even though the path they took to citizenship is the very path that Republicans want to see utilized more.
We need new faces who are as energetic as the before mentioned, but are also smart enough to not let their raw passion trip them up into saying the wrong thing. Likewise, we need to go younger, much…much younger. By chance did you know that the average age in Texas is just 33? That is astounding, and if Republicans ever figure out that we will better appeal to a younger audience with a younger spokesperson, it will be equally as astounding.
But looks are only part of the transformation. Next, we need to combat the Democrats’ best accomplishment with their message, making Republican look like racists every time we even mutter the words illegal immigration.
Republicans need to make it clear that we are not against Hispanics coming to Texas and moving in next door, not in the least. We need to get back to the basics, that being the need to address illegal entry into this country as matters of national security in a post 9/11 era, fiscal responsibility, and on the principle of upholding our duly crafted laws, regardless of what ethnicity that illegal entry is.
Imagine a Brandon Creighton in the House and a Glen Hegar in the Senate emphasizing how a common misconception on illegal immigration is that it is only a Mexico problem, when in fact Mexico is only a piece of the pie that includes illegal immigrants from a lot of countries. But the issue is not specifically who is illegally entering the country, it is that they are illegally entering the country.
Then picture our new spokesmen also emphasizing the preservation and enhancement of our legal paths to gaining citizenship status. We want people to come to America, we want to continue the tradition of diversity that has made us the country that we are. We want people to legally gain citizenship as Americans, because when they do, everyone wins.
Now we’re starting to put together a message that might work, or at least one that will not implode. We’ve got messengers who more resemble your neighbors down the street and less like intolerant old men, and we now have a purpose that sounds more rational and less hateful.
Finally, we as Republicans need to maneuver out of the common corner that we get painted into every time a liberal so proudly proclaims, “Your ancestors weren’t Native Americans, we all come from immigrant backgrounds.”
That statement is true, but it is a fallacy to compare immigration in the 1700’s, 1800’s, and early 1900’s, to immigration today. The textbook reason is because the United States has lawfully adopted new immigration policies since then. But the true reason that liberals are comparing apples to oranges here is due to the fact that illegal immigrants are not coming to America the raw land that we inherited, they are coming to America the society we built with that raw land. That is the difference, and that is how we get out of that corner.
I’ve actually been working on this post for over a week now, trying to get it right because, like I said, messaging is everything. Perhaps it is a coincidence that this is going up on the eve of the breaking news that Leo Berman is threatening to run for Governor if his illegal immigration bills are not passed, then again, perhaps it’s a sign. You see, ethnic diversification is key to Republican survival in Texas, and we’re not going to get there with the current path that we’re on.