Ignoring the real profamily message

While in Texas last week, Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and brother of former President George W. Bush, was bemoaning the inability of Republicans to connect with the vast majority of Hispanic voters. He believes the GOP has a conservative, profamily message that could appeal to Hispanics. But it isn’t the message being delivered by Governor Rick Perry and the immigrantbashing, antipublic education, Republican legislative majority.

A solid public education is a strong profamily value, particularly for millions of Hispanic children who, for better or worse, will form Texas’ economic backbone in the nottoodistant future. Slashing $5.4 billion from the public schools and cramming thousands of Hispanic children into overcrowded classrooms is a loud, antifamily message in the Hispanic community. So are cuts in student financial aid for college and rising tuition costs.

“You need to speak a language of inclusion,” Bush said in an appearance at the University of Texas at Arlington.

But the Republicans running the Texas statehouse believe “inclusion” begins and ends with the rightwingers who dominate Republican primary elections, and those voters give little thought to Hispanic family values or the future of this state.

Jeb Bush can make all the speeches about Hispanic voters that he wants, but the people who need the message aren’t listening.

-From The Dallas Morning News