http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/has-marco-rubio-sold-out/2011/07/08/gIQATUKR4H_story.htmlJust seven months after taking office, the Republicans’ great Latino hope has squandered the one thing that made him unique, interesting and valuable to his party: the potential that he could help mend fences with disaffected Latino voters alienated by the GOP’s simplistic and mean-spirited approach to the immigration issue.
Rubio is becoming persona non grata among Latinos outside of the Cuban American community, which represents only 3 percent of the Latino population in the United States. Specifically, he is becoming intensely disliked by many naturalized Mexicans and Mexican Americans, who make up as much as 67 percent of the U.S. Latino population. Those voters could affect the electoral outcome in battleground states such as Colorado and New Mexico, and in vote-rich states such as Texas and California.
A few months ago, the Miami Herald reported that conservative activists in Florida — including members of the Tea Party — were pushing Rubio to take a hard line on immigration. They complained that the issue wasn’t even listed on his Web site and that Rubio hadn’t co-sponsored any legislation to beef up immigration enforcement.
So Rubio joined the feel-good but do-nothing effort in Congress — led by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) — to make it mandatory for businesses to participate in the “E-Verify” program, which is supposed to tell them whether a Social Security number is authentic. He even became a co-sponsor of the companion bill proposed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Republicans hope that Rubio’s support will dull the accusation that the legislation is anti-Latino because the measure could discourage employers from hiring Latinos who are assumed to be in the country illegally.