Way to Win the Latino Vote, There, GOP

When courting a particular voting bloc, it's generally a good idea to at least show a smidgen of interest in them:

This one won’t help the GOP’s minority outreach efforts.

The National Council of La Raza, a top Latino civil rights group, is taking a shot at RNC chair Michael Steele and several prominent GOP figures for skipping its ongoing annual conference, saying it raises questions about the GOP’s interest in wooing Latinos.

NCLR spokesperson Marie Watteau confirms to me that Steele, along with three Republican governors, were all invited to its conference, which is concluding today with a big speech by DNC chair Tim Kaine. But Steele and the three governors — Mississippi’s Haley Barbour, Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty, and Puerto Rico’s Luis Fortuno — all declined the invitations through the RNC, Watteau says.

Watteau adds that GOPers like Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McCain and both George Bushes have attended past conferences.

“You should certainly speak to the Republican Party about why they’re not here,” Watteau told me. “The Latino community is open to hearing from both sides, which is why both parties were invited. The Republican Party not being here may demonstrate a lack of commitment to our community.”

Standing Latinos up en masse: not a good vote-getting move.

Neither is this:

A Senate committee endorsed Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday in a vote that splintered nearly along party lines, signaling that Republicans will not hesitate to oppose the first Hispanic nominee to the nation's highest court when the full Senate decides whether to confirm her next week.

Only one Republican, Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina, joined the Senate Judiciary Committee's dozen Democrats in supporting Sotomayor. The six GOP senators who stood against her included two from states with heavy Hispanic populations and two veteran senators who had never before voted against a Supreme Court nominee.

Snubbing a major Latino civil rights group and then voting against a Latina Supreme Court nominee are the kinds of things you do when you don't want Latino votes. They're more like the things you do when you're determined to remain a pathetic regional party of pasty-white males with a base made up of Birthers, racists, and the occasional very confused minority or female. And that may indeed be what you want - but if so, you'd better resign yourselves to a very long stay in the wilderness.

Jus' sayin'.