DOES KOBACH SPEAK FOR ROMNEY?
By Jason l. Riley
August 27, 2012
The good news is that the Republican National Committee’s 2012 platform will include
language supporting a new guest-worker program for foreign nationals. The bad news is
that it will also include gratuitously harsh language on border enforcement. Apparently,
some Republicans believe that President Obama’s 35-point lead among Latino voters is too
narrow.
Since effectively wrapping up the GOP presidential nomination, Mitt Romney hasn’t had
much to say about immigration. But Romney campaign advisers, such as Kansas Secretary
of State Kris Kobach, are filling the void.
Mr. Kobach has worked with seal-the-border outfits like the Federation for American
Immigration Reform to craft controversial immigration measures in Arizona, Alabama and
other states. Last week, he addressed the Republican platform committee in Tampa, Fla. “If
you really want to create a job tomorrow, you can remove an illegal alien today,” said Mr.
Kobach, conveniently ignoring the fact that there was more illegal immigration and fewer
deportations but less unemployment under George W. Bush.
Politico reports that the platform committee voted to add language proposed by Mr. Kobach
that calls for completing a border fence, mandating E-Verify and ending in-state tuition for
illegal aliens. Would such measures further reduce illegal entries? Perhaps, but net
migration to the U.S. from Mexico is already zero, and such positions undoubtedly make the
Republican Party look less welcoming to the country’s fast-growing Hispanic population.
Latino voters have other priorities, according to the polls, but immigration remains a
symbolic issue for many of them.
Whether Mr. Kobach speaks for Mr. Romney on immigration is an open question that the
campaign doesn’t seem eager to answer. The Wall Street Journal left multiple phone
messages asking the campaign to clarify Mr. Kobach’s role, but no one got back to us.
“Kris Kobach scored a few points, but he is not going to win over the long haul,” said Tamar
Jacoby of ImmigrationWorks USA, which advocates for immigration reform on behalf of
small business owners. “He does not and never has spoken for the party or for all
Republicans. Other, wiser heads are also working to shape the party’s position,” she added,
citing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Mr. Romney’s running mate, Wisconsin Congressman
Paul Ryan.
Let’s hope Ms. Jacoby is correct. Mr. Romney campaigned recently in New Mexico, a state
where Hispanics make up a nation-leading 46% of the population. In 2004 President Bush
carried not only New Mexico but other swing states with surging Latino populations such as
Colorado and Nevada on his way to winning more than 40 percent of the Hispanic vote.
Republicans who think that President Bush’s electoral success with Latinos had nothing to
do with his welcoming message are kidding themselves and hurting their party.