NBC's Benjy Sarlin: Conservative Devolution on Immigration Reform

The Tea Party

NBC's Benjy Sarlin looks into conservative Republican opposition to immigration reform, particularly in the context of the Mitt Romney's poor showing among Latinos in 2012.

Sarlin describes how, in the days after President Obama's November 2012 victory, noteworthy right-wingers like Sean Hannity expressed interest in immigration reform. Fox News conservative Brit Hume, in the wake of the 2012 presidential election, saw the Hispanic demographic at the root of the Republican defeat.

But in the months since November 2012, the rightwing narrative has changed.  The new hard-right argument is that Hispanics likely will not vote Republican in percentages that will translate into GOP victories.  Moreover, they maintain that the Republican defeat in 2012  was not rooted in demographic change, but rather in a loss of support among whites, a group they claim was partly AWOL last November.

Sarlin's MSNBC online headline is cleverly entitled "How the GOP stopped worrying about Latinos and learned to love the base." The article is linked below.

NBC's Benjy Sarlin: The GOP's Retreat From Immigration Reform

"After November’s stunning loss, an array of influential Republicans argued that immigration reform was the party’s best chance to claim Latino voters before they become permanent Democrats. But in a mere eight months, a counter-narrative has taken hold in conservative circles, nurtured by a shrewd group of anti-immigration lobbyists and Tea Party enthusiasts."

-----Benjy Sarlin