Here's another example of "Republican strategists" sounding like liberals in the national media. Last Thursday, NPR's Diane Rehm Show had a panel of Republicans to discuss what NPR likes to think is the terrible future of the GOP. Michelle Bernard unleashed harsh attacks several times on conservatives who oppose the DREAM Act and the Gang of Eight amnesty plan.
Her "bottom line" was "You have to look at policy. You have to look at the principles that the country allegedly stands for. And we are at a crossroads. We have to decide. Do we want to stand for a country that believes in freedom for all, or are we going to be bigots?" Opposing the Left on these bills is "un-American" or "anti-American," she said repeatedly:
The immigration laws that we have seen passed in Alabama and Arizona that basically give people, like Sheriff Joe Arpaio, permission to engage in racial profiling are anti-Hispanic. They are anti-American. They have been embraced by too many people in the Republican Party. And that, I believe, is going to drive Hispanic voters to the Democratic Party.
NPR's Rehm actually introduced Bernard as a "conservative political analyst." A few minutes before that, Bernard called amnesty opponents "insane" on the DREAM Act for illegal-alien students:
BERNARD: And what we saw in 2012, what we saw is that the Republican Party has lost a large number of Hispanics who voted for George Bush in the -- in his first two election cycles --
DIANE REHM: Why? Why?
BERNARD: Because of the rhetoric. The rhetoric has been horrible. For example, during the last election cycle, claims that the DREAM Act were going to be a magnet for illegals just was a very insane -- an inane and insane comment to make.
The immigration laws that we have seen passed in Alabama and Arizona that basically give people, like Sheriff Joe Arpaio, permission to engage in racial profiling are anti-Hispanic. They are anti-American. They have been embraced by too many people in the Republican Party. And that, I believe, is going to drive Hispanic voters to the Democratic Party.
Rehm began the show by playing a soundbite of Bob Dole on "Fox News Sunday" saying the GOP should be "closed for repairs." Bernard loved that: "When I heard Bob Dole's comments as a woman and as an African-American, I thought something very different than a lot of other people thought. I thought, hallelujah, Bob Dole gets it because, in the Republican Party, there is a problem with women. There is a problem with African-Americans. There's a problem with regard to immigration. There's a problem with religious liberties. And a lot of people are unable to -- they get so wrapped up into the economics."
