One of the nation’s top pollsters says Republicans must do a lot more than just propose immigration reforms if they want Hispanics to embrace the GOP.
“They need to explain how their view of the world will help the Hispanic community as part of the overall U.S. economic growth,’’ Scott Rasmussen, founder of Rasmussen Reports, told Newsmax TV.
“And the larger question Republicans need to face, whether we’re talking about Hispanic voters or anybody else, is they need to talk about economic fairness.
Poll: High Gas Prices: Is it Obama's Fault? Vote Now
“Americans do want economic growth. Very, very important. But . . . people are looking for an economy that works in a fair manner. Right now, they’re not seeing it. And the Republicans have not even engaged in the discussion.’’
Rasmussen said one example of that was President Barack Obama’s call to raise taxes on upper-income Americans.
“Nobody thought that would reduce the deficit. People were looking at that as a fairness issue, and the Republicans never even brought the topic up,’’ Rasmussen said.
“So, for Hispanics, or any other segment of the U.S. population, Republicans need to address not only how the economy grows, but how it can be fair in distributing that growth.’’
That said, the GOP should fare well in upcoming 2014 Senate races, he suggested.
“On paper, the Republicans should almost guarantee the chance to win some seats and they should be competitive in terms of adding up opportunity to gain control of the Senate,’’ Rasmussen said.
“That’s simply because many Democrats are up for re-election in Republican blue states, in states that even Mitt Romney won. So it should be a good environment,’’ he said.