[David] Frum actually made some sensible points during his initial comments. He noted that the idea that Hispanics are going to become socially conservative Republicans is a myth. He said that [it] is perfectly logical for Hispanics to support the Democrats because they offer more government goodies. He continued that there is very little upward mobility among Hispanics, which is unlikely to change, so they will continue to be a dependency class for the foreseeable future.So Frum has an answer to my question in the title above, and his answer is not favorable to the survival of republican (note: small "r") government.
Of course, the question is intrinsically insulting, too: It makes little sense to ask for the opinion of an entire race (or ethnic group ... whatever).
Nevertheless, that precise question has been both asked and answered by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who is Hispanic. (Two of Richardson's grandparents were Mexican, and he evidently regards himself as Hispanic, given that he chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the 98th Congress [1983 - 1985].) In a 2006 Center for Immigration Studies backgrounder Immigration and Usurpation: Elites, Power, and the People’s Will [PDF; see page 3], Mexican writer Fredo Arias-King recalled:
Bill Richardson, who had served in Clinton’s cabinet and later became governor of New Mexico, kindly stopped to speak to our delegation at the [2000] Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. He commented favorably to us: ”What do Hispanics want? Fully funded government programs!”You could hardly be more definitive than that! Still, does Richardson (who has also been U.N. Ambassador and U.S. Secretary of Energy) actually speak for Hispanics en masse? All I can say is that he seems to think so:
There are changing political times where our basic foundations and programs are being attacked, illegal and legal immigration are being unfairly attacked. We have to band together, and that means Latinos in Florida, Cuban-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, South Americans, we have to network better — we have to be more politically minded, we have to put aside party and think of ourselves as Latinos, as Hispanics more than we have in the past. [1996 radio interview. Transcript here, sound clip here.]
