NEW AND EXTENDED INTERVIEWS

Ken Mehlman: As the former chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007, Mehlman spoke often about the GOP’s need to build Republican support within the Hispanic community.

Ken connects the dots between the Hispanic community and the Republican party’s quest to return to majority status . . . he is right.

Hispanics are a challenge for any Republican. They  are more Democratic than Republican, but they’re willing to vote for the right Republican. The right Republican is not defined by one’s ideology as much as one’s world view. The world view is someone who is committed to making sure the American dream is available to everybody.   Whether we talk economic issues, national security issues or social issues, Hispanic Americans, as Ronald Reagan famously once said, are Republicans but many of them don’t know it yet.

So the question is do we as Republicans and as candidates speak to their aspirations or not?  Increasingly economic status is less important than economic aspiration. If we’re the party of the economically aspiring – Democrats can be the party of the limousine liberals, let us be the party of the guy who rides the bus who wants to one day drive his own car. . . . or ride in the limousine.

If we do that, then we are the majority party.

What you say is less important than what people hear. We need to make sure what people are hearing is ‘we want you to be part of our party. We want you to be part of our American dream.’  Republican philosophy is a philosophy about ideas. The Democrats are the party of groups. They’re the party that says okay, if you’re in this group, we think of you this way. If you want to be thought of as part of a group, then you should vote Democratic. If you want to be thought of as an individual, then you should vote Republican.