Proposition 187 myth

KEY TO TRUMP’ VICTORY: MATH Yes, it is.  Because you are the most dishonest people, political press the most dishonest people I know. You know it and I know it.  The press is dishonest, but the political press is especially dishonest."

[Snippage] With the California primary fast approaching, the media are rolling out their favorite fairy tale about how Republican Pete Wilson's support for Proposition 187 in 1994 was a historic, game-changing error for the GOP, driving Hispanics from the party for good! I'm writing an emergency book on Trump right now, due today, and liberals won't stop lying about Prop 187 -- so for this week's column, I'm telling the real story of that initiative, again. Maybe the 700th time is the charm! In 1994, Gov. Pete Wilson of California was headed for defeat in his re-election bid. He had an abysmal 15 percent approval rating -- syphilis had a higher approval rating. He ended up pulling out an amazing come-from-behind victory by tying himself to Proposition 187, a ballot initiative that would deny illegal immigrants non-emergency government services. In the lead-up to the election, the media freely dispensed advice to Wilson, nearly identical to the advice they're giving Donald Trump today. Proposition 187, was, in the words of The New York Times, a "nativist abomination," "xenophobic," and a "platform of bigotry, racism and scapegoating." Republicans faced an epic loss unless they repudiated Prop 187 and leapt on the Hispandering bandwagon -- and pronto. Unaware that the Times' political advice was a gag, Wilson's Democratic opponent, Kathleen Brown, was convinced opposition to Proposition 187 would propel her to victory. She campaigned against the proposition, urging voters to "send a message that says we understand that in diversity is our strength!" Pete "Prop 187" Wilson won the election with 55 percent of the vote. That included 21 percent of the black vote -- nearly three times the 8 percent average for Republicans in House races nationwide the same year. Wilson's 1994 victory on the back of Proposition 187 also happens to be the biggest margin for any Republican running statewide in California in the last 30 years, except for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who won his 2006 re-election by one point more (after effectively becoming a Democrat). Proposition 187 was even more popular than Wilson, winning 59 percent to 41 percent. It was supported by a majority of white voters, a majority of black voters, a majority of Asian voters -- and a third of Hispanic voters, i.e., more of the Hispanic vote than Mitt Romney got. Proposition 187 was twice as popular with Hispanic voters in California as George H.W. Bush had been two years earlier. In 1992, Bill Clinton won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote in California to Bush's 14 percent. Texas Hispanics chose Clinton over Bush by nearly the identical percentage, 70 percent to 15 percent. Maybe there's something else Hispanics don't like about Republicans.  FOR EXAMPLE .... Yes, our day in the sun, finally.