Republican Strategist Karl Rove: Solely Increasing the GOP's Share of the White Voting Demographic Will Not Reverse Recent Electoral Losses

As the immigration reform battle in Congress now moves to the House of Representatives, there appears to be a serious rift among conservative Republicans on where to proceed.

One wing of the conservative movement is pro-immigration, those believing that the GOP must become more appealing to the growing U.S. minority population, particularly the Hispanics, a demographic group that makes up around 17% of the U.S. population and is increasingly becoming a more important voting demographic.  In both 2008 and 2012, Barack Obama overwhelmingly carried the Hispanic vote.  In November 2012, for example, despite a sluggish economy and little progress on immigration reform, President Obama still carried around 70% of the Hispanic voting demographic.

Other conservatives contend that a GOP pursuit of a greater share Hispanic votes is a fool's errand, and that Republican candidates should concentrate on maximizing white conservative voter turnout.  Veteran conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly vehemently holds this view. Her sense of things is explored in the prior blog entry.

But Karl Rove, a key political adviser to George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns, maintains that the Republican Party cannot continue to rely solely on its traditional appeal to white voters.  He explains his views in a Wall Street Journal column linked below.

Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal: Increasing the GOP White Vote is Insufficient to Turn the Tide

CNN.com, Nov 2012: Latino Vote Proved Key in Obama Win

PewHispanic.org: In 2012, Obama Won Hispanic Vote 71% to 27% Over Romney