GOP looks to upgrade its image on immigration

By Bud Kennedy

bud@star-telegram.com

National Republican leaders came to Austin on Tuesday to learn how to win over minority voters.

A "how not to win" lesson was across the street.

"Press 1 for English -- Press 2 to Deport" read a 25-foot banner displayed by a small and chilly group of Houston activists.

"We're here because the Republican Party has given up," said Elizabeth Theiss, an anti-immigration activist.

She's not just anti-illegal immigration. She wants all immigration reduced.

And judging by the sign, she's not even very happy about the 2 million legal Texans who make the free-speech choice to speak Spanish.

"We want to enforce our laws, and then we want tougher laws," Theiss said by phone.

Her protest flyer accused Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee chairman and a guest at the Austin meeting, of a "pre-amnesty scheme."

"Protesters Needed," it read, against "defection of the RNC in illegal immigration as they scurry to secure their own portals of power and profit."

In other words, Republicans want to find ways to win.

Houston businessman Norman Adams was one of the guests in the closed, top-level meeting of about 30 RNC and Texas Republican leaders and consultants.

Adams was among the party leaders who helped shape the GOP's new "Texas Solution" state platform plank calling for a guest-worker plan (not citizenship).

"How many protesters were there? Seven? They must have had to hire six of them," he said, laughing at Theiss' group.

"I call them the screamers. In the Republican Party, they are the screaming minority. They are clearly not the voting majority."

Led by Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, Texas Republicans adopted the guest-worker plank last summer to start welcoming Hispanic voters and candidates.

(The old "we'll send your grandma home!" platform wasn't winning.)

"Look what happened last fall," Adams said.

"Gov. Romney was a great man and a sound businessman. But when his immigration policy involved 'self-deportation' -- what kind of idiotic comment was that? We have to embrace a way for people to register, pay their taxes and fines and work legally."

The party's new idea: Press 2 to win.

Bud Kennedy's column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 817-390-7538

Twitter: @budkennedy

Looking for comments?