John Sides believes that Republicans would be wise to support comprehensive immigration reform:
I’m not suggesting that the GOP won’t win larger numbers of Latino voters in individual elections than they did in 2012 because of cyclical factors like the economy or idiosyncratic factors like the particular candidates who are running. I’m just suggesting that the GOP should be asking itself, “How do we convert some of these unaffiliated Latino voters into habitual Republican voters?” And that takes more than economic growth or, say, nominating Marco Rubio. … [S]upporting comprehensive immigration reform is a necessary, though not sufficient, step for the GOP to accomplish that goal. Immigration may not be every Latino’s highest priority but, again, I see that issue as important to winning over at least some Latino voters and many Latino opinion leaders.
But Paul Waldman notes that Southern Republicans have little incentive to woo Latinos:
In many places, and in the nation as a whole, the idea that the GOP could become (or stick to being) a nearly completely white party is very bad for Republicans. Consider that nationally, John McCain got 55 percent of the white vote, and Mitt Romney did slightly better, getting 59 percent. It wasn’t enough for either of them to win. But if you’re a Republican in, say, Alabama, where nearly nine out of ten whites vote Republican, you don’t need a single vote from non-whites. An all-white party is just fine with you.
Meanwhile, Keith Humphreys warns that doubling down on the white vote risks having the national GOP follow in the California GOP’s footsteps:
The California lesson for the national GOP? Racially divisive appeals to alienated white voters can work, perhaps especially in a mid-term election. Indeed, doubling down on white voters may well work nationally in 2014. But pursuing such short-term electoral rewards is a route to long-term political oblivion in an increasingly diverse America.
The Dish 