Wednesday on NOW with Alex Wagner, freshman Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, joined Wagner and her show panel to discuss whether recent overtures to Hispanics by some Republican senators would be enough to satisfy more hard-line members of the House.
Castro–whose identical twin brother, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, gave the keynote speech at this summer’s Democratic National Convention–said he remained hopeful that a comprehensive immigration reform bill could pass the House. Asked if this newfound embrace of Hispanic voters within the party genuine, the congressman cautioned that Republican insincerity would be punished by voters.
“The worst mistake they could make is to start along this path and be insincere about it,” he said. “I think if the Latino community and the larger American community senses that the Republican Party is insincere, then it could spell even bigger problems for them later.”
The New York Times’ David Carr said he believed Republicans got the message following their November drubbing.
“There’s nothing like an election to provide a little bit of a corrective to long-held beliefs,” Carr noted. New York City Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson agreed.
“Elections are clarifying. Republicans are not unaware of the election results,” Wolfson said. “I think you will find many Republicans who are not going to come around to this issue, but I think there will be enough Republicans who come to the conclusion that they may lose their seats if they don’t pass immigration reform.”
Matthew Alexander