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TechnoratiThe Republican base also worries about the fact that illegals do not assimilate into society. Social conservatives see language as a unifying element in society and they worry that the failure of immigrants to learn the national language will lead to the Balkanization of the country. Additionally, the base resents what they regard as "amnesty" for wrongdoers. They don't like the idea of wrongdoers getting preferential treatment. They think that if people break the law, they should have to pay the price. Having heard their law and order candidates utter the mantra, "If you do the crime, you have to do the time" over and over again, they have come to believe it.
Republican blue bloods, on the other hand, have been largely bemused at the reaction of the base to the immigration debacle. They don't understand what the fuss is all about. Putting profits over people is a concept they are comfortable with. They have been doing it in their businesses for years. They aren't impacted in the same way as the base by the tax burden associated with immigration. After all, they have tax advisors and accountants who get paid to find loopholes. Jobs? They don't need them, they provide them. And if they can get a lower wage worker to fill them, that just means more money going to the bottom line. Preferential treatment? They are accustomed to getting it for themselves and their designees. Social implications? They don't worry about them. In the circles in which they move, they aren't exposed to an underclass. Common language? Among the elites, cash is the universal language, and if a foreign language is spoken, it is usually French, not Spanish.
Though these characterizations of the two wings of the Republican Party may seem extreme, they accurately depict the perceptions that each camp has of the other and the impact that each perceives illegal immigration has on themselves and the other. They also reflect the perception that the base currently has of the Party leadership and its response to their perceived problems. While some may want to argue about the legitimacy of their perceptions, Republican leaders would do well to remember that in politics, perception is reality. If the Republican leadership is going to solve the immigration problem without committing political suicide, they better take into account perception and reality. Otherwise, they may soon be left with no one to lead.
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Ken Connor is Chairman of the Center for a Just Society in Washington, DC and a nationally recognized trial lawyer who represented Governor Jeb Bush in the Terri Schiavo case. Connor was formally President of the Family Research Council, Chairman of the Board of CareNet, and Vice Chairman of Americans United for Life. For more articles and resources from Mr. Connor and the Center for a Just Society, go to www.ajustsociety.org. Your feedback is welcome; please email info@ajustsociety.org
