Long way to go
You've got to give Dean Heller credit for standing his ground, at least.
When he arrived at Dona Maria's restaurant downtown Friday morning, he wasn't exactly facing a friendly crowd. Heller had canceled a meeting with the Latin Chamber of Commerce in October at the last minute, turning around after learning that a cameraman and a staffer working for his Senate opponent, Shelley Berkley, were in attendance.
This time, Heller not only showed up, he stood firm: He defended his votes against the DREAM Act, which would offer citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants who attend college or serve in the U.S. military. And he reiterated his support for a law that would deny citizenship to U.S. born children unless at least one parent was also a citizen.
It was a bold move, especially since it turned off even those in the audience who were inclined to agree with Heller in other areas of politics. When Republican Otto Merida, president of the once-snubbed Latin Chamber, asked Heller how Republicans could expect to win Hispanic votes with stances such as his, the appointed senator responded by promising to sit down with Merida and hammer out a mutually agreeable immigration reform bill.
That would be something to see.
Some Democrats questioned the wisdom of standing Heller up in a room filled with activists ready to ask barbed questions. (The most wickedly crafted came from Laura Martin, who wondered which earmark the anti-earmark Heller regretted the most. Heller, who says he opposes earmarks, couldn't think of a single one.)
But it's undeniable that Republicans badly need to make inroads with Hispanic voters. At October's Western Republican Leadership Conference, pollsters Kellyanne Conway and Glen Bolger stressed the growing demographic as the key to winning elections in the future.
Heller mostly stuck to the Republican playbook, stressing how Republicans and Hispanics share values over family, faith, self-reliance, hard-work and entrepreneurship. But those commonalities came to a screeching halt when immigration came up.
And while Heller is way too smart -- and advised by way too savvy a team -- to tell a group of Hispanics that they look "a little bit Asian" or to run ads depicting Hispanics as gang members threatening white families, what's the difference between his stance on immigration and that of Sharron Angle?
Heller said in his presentation that "harsh political rhetoric coarsens the dialogue" on immigration, but there's simply no other way to look at it than this: Democrats (and some moderate and pro-business Republicans) favor such things as guest worker programs or immigration reforms with a pathway to citizenship. Heller -- and many other conservative Republicans -- don't. In fact, Heller said flatly the American people wouldn't support amnesty for 10 million to 15 million illegal immigrants.
"The immigration problem has to be addressed," he said. "But it has to be done in a way that the majority of people agree with."
Well, that's the DREAM Act, then, since some national polls have shown a bare majority -- between 52 and 54 percent -- support its provisions. Pressed by reporters after the breakfast as to his specific objections to the measure, Heller said "In my opinion, that bill had more bad than good in it." Pressed further, he said he opposes non-citizen students getting in-state tuition discounts that aren't available to U.S. citizens. (But the DREAM Act doesn't provide that benefit, although it does grant states the option of extending in-state tuition to immigrants. Some have done so, but it's certainly not a requirement of the federal law.)
"There's no easy answer," he said.
Perhaps not. But the answers Heller gave on Friday didn't sway his audience to his cause. And it's an audience he and his party need to be successful.
Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/SteveSebelius or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.
