The man who was in charge of Hispanic outreach for the Republican National Committee in Florida has become a Democrat:
The Republican National Committee’s former Hispanic outreach director in Florida has become a Democrat, citing the Republican party’s “intolerance” and a general frustration with the party’s attitude toward immigration
Pablo Pantoja wrote in an e-mail to supporters on Monday that ”it doesn’t take much to see the culture of intolerance surrounding the Republican Party today.”
“I have wondered before about the seemingly harsh undertones about immigrants and others,” he said. “Look no further; a well-known organization recently confirms the intolerance of that which seems different or strange to them.”
Without naming him, Pantoja alluded to Jason Richwine, the co-author of a Heritage Foundation report on the costs of immigration reform. Richwine resigned from the think tank last week amid revelations about his past, including that he wrote in his dissertation that “no one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against.”
Conservatives including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) pushed back hard against the Heritage study. When pressed about why he would leave a party that includes prominent pro-immigration voices, Pantoja said in an e-mail to Post Politics that such support is not being given its due.
“Those voices and stances are not being well taken,” he said. “Studies like the recent one behind the immigration debate are part of that culture of intolerance. Everyone has to make their own decision and I wouldn’t consider they would change over this necessarily. Fortunately, I feel like I am in a private and personal position where I can do that.”
One wonders if something like this will be enough to finally wake the GOP up and see the problem they have with Hispanic voters.
