More Wisdom from Derbyshire

This is getting to be a regular feature of Sententiae, but John Derbyshire of NRO's Corner has once again come up with something interesting. This time he is actually funny. Here's the gist of it:

It's an odd thing—a paradox, really—that our last Democratic President showed little interest in Latin America and seems to have had no friendships or business ties there. Chelsea was sent to Oxford, and I think you could make a case that the Democratic Party as a whole, in its thinking, is more Euro-centric than Latin-American-centric. And yet Hispanic voters in the U.S. are solidly Democratic. All the main appeals of the current Democratic Party—big-govt. populism, a zero-sum racial spoils system, victimology, open borders, etc.—are much more attractive to Hispanics, and (except for the open borders) much more in line with Latin American political traditions, that the GOP's appeals to self-support, low taxation, etc.

So the decades-long Bush family project to bond with Latin America has not brought, and so far as I can see is not likely to bring, any political advantage to the GOP. It's a strange thing. Anyone got explanations?

Let's see - where to begin? Most people who are genuinely knowledgable about Hispanics and their culture recognise that, despite the Derby's snide stereotypes, Hispanics in America are most likely to be conservative in values, putting a high premium on family values, security (as in law-and-order) and self-reliance (most come from societies where you do NOT want the government paying any attention to you). I think D is trying to imply that the Democrats have tried to 'buy' Latin support with a list of projects he despises. It reminds me a bit of how the White South portrayed attraction Blacks felt towards Republicans during Reconstruction.

So why wouldn't Hispanics flock to the Republicans? Well, could it possibly be the stimatization of all of them as illegals, the inflamed rhetoric to deport them, and the contempt heaped upon them for speaking Spanish? Does the political ghost of Pete Wilson and Prop 187 have anything to say on this subject? Has Derbyshire been living in a closet the last decade?

Nah. Must be that "big-govt. populism, a zero-sum racial spoils system, victimology, open borders" the Derby thinks is turning their heads.