They Can Take The Latinos; We’ll Get The Nativists

I've been working on an article about the Bush administration's immigration policy, specifically the way they seem to be courting the party's anti-immigrant base at the expense of Latino swing voters. Here are the two latest examples from the Times: U.S. to Give Border Patrol New Powers to Deport Illegal Aliens U.S. Is Linking Immigrant Patients' Status to Hospital Aid I have to say, I don't quite understand the political calculation here. Rove clearly thinks that those hostile to immigration make up a significant portion of Bush's base (which I don't necessarily think is true) and that somehow Latino voters can be won over in spite the White House's immigrantion policies. But the latest polls show Latinos moving strongly in Kerry's direction