GOP stuck between winning and losing

SAN DIEGO — The Republican Party is caught in the gray area that exists somewhere between winning and losing.

On the one hand, it’s likely that the GOP will, in the upcoming midterm elections, win back control of Congress. On the other, it’s hard to remember a time when

Republicans have been this lost.

The party is wandering in the political wilderness, unsure of what to be or whom to represent.

I propose a new mascot. Out with the elephant, in with the chameleon. These days, Republicans constantly change colors.

On a whole slew of issues — from trade to immigration to law and order — Republicans are taking positions that their party would have vehemently opposed just a generation ago.

The GOP no longer champions taking responsibility since it won’t accept that former President Donald Trump incited a riot on January 6, 2021.

Republicans no longer eschew victimhood. They play the victim when complaining about liberal media bias or critical race theory.

They supported law and order, until they abused the pardon process and exhausted their supply of “Get Out of Jail Free” cards.

They used to bemoan the idea of getting something for nothing, but they’re fine with it if they’re getting unearned votes from disaffected Latino Democrats.

Before Jan. 6, Republicans pretended to be pro-cop and prorule-of-law. Before Trump, they were pro-immigrant and anti-tariff.

Before they began their crusade to outlaw nearly all abortions, Republicans stood for limited government and individual liberty.

And before Trump and the enablers within his party decided it was a good idea to break apart refugee families of refugees at the border — even if they didn’t know how to put back together what they had shattered — they used to talk about family values.

In one issue after another, the GOP turned itself inside out. Now Republicans find themselves in another pickle, this one involving Latino voters. The GOP has to decide: Should it put out the welcome mat for Latinos? Or should it continue to put forth nativist rhetoric and mean-spirited policies that will likely repel those voters?

I predict they will stick with the latter. For the past 30 years, Republicans — particularly those in the Southwest — have been marketing themselves to white people as a refuge from the storm of changing demographics. That racist poison is already in their bloodstream. They may not be able to get it out, even if they wanted to.

Republican candidates for office in states like Missouri, Georgia or Ohio talk about an “invasion” on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Really? Russia’s unwanted and unwarranted exclusion into Ukraine should have clarified what a real invasion looks like.

Here’s a hint: It’s not a bunch of hardworking folks desperate to do your chores. That’s not an invasion. That’s a job fair.

Latinos may not be feeling much love from Republicans at the moment — or for the past decade or so — but a lot of them may remember what it was like to love one Republican in particular.

Many Latinos adored President Ronald Reagan, handing him 40% of their vote in his 1984 reelection. That year, with help from Latinos, Reagan carried 49 states.

Today, the Gipper — a free trader who thought immigrants were our friends, and the Russians were our enemies — couldn’t get elected to a minor league congressional seat in Texas or Florida.

Reagan was legit. He didn’t fret about Latinos entering the country or the polling booth. He must have known that, when all was said and done, he was going to get more than his share of those votes. He didn’t believe Latinos had to be coached to vote Republican, insisting that they were “already Republican” but didn’t know it.

In 2022, the typical Republican approach to Latinos is not an open hand but a clenched fist.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wants to revisit the 1982 Plyler vs. Doe Supreme Court case, where the Justices ruled that U.S. public schools must educate all students regardless of immigration status. Abbott thinks that Texas — a state that was partially built by illegal immigrant labor — shouldn’t have to teach the children of the people who keep its economy humming along.

So much for southern hospitality.

Now might be a good time to mention that Latinos — who make up 39% of the Texas population — value family above everything else, and they will crucify any politician who targets children.

Still, Abbott appears determined to keep Texas from becoming any less white than it already is.

But wait. Texas is also the epicenter of the Latino migration to the GOP as more Mexican Americans warm up to voting Republican.

Given the mixed messages, I can’t imagine why.