Immigration bashing backfires on Virginia county -- and the GOP

I have to admit, I love articles like this. Prince William County took an aggressive immgrant bashing stand last fall. Got them lots of national attention -- the wrong kind. It looks like a bastion of hate and that's not good for the economic climate. The butthead who is the county's top elected official isn't backing down:

Many blame Stewart (R), who put the county on the map nationally for its tough approach on illegal immigration. As the top elected official, Stewart is the most visible face of the county and nominally its biggest cheerleader. But his colleagues and some residents are starting to question his leadership....

...Stewart, who was elected to his first full term as chairman in November with 55 percent of the vote, is not fazed by the criticism. "They might not like my style, but it's been successful."

To his critics, Stewart's rhetoric on illegal immigration, although direct, comes off as intolerant in a diverse region that has assimilated thousands of newcomers in the past 20 years.

"If you violate the law and we catch you, we are going to do everything we can to have you deported," Stewart once said of immigrants.

He also called a group of county religious leaders "illegitimate" and "misguided" when they offered to serve as intermediaries between elected officials and the immigrant community. "They need to do what they do best: serve their congregants and attend to their denominations and not get involved in partisan politics," Stewart said.

Seems Mr. Stewart likes all the attention he garners. Seems like every time he opens his mouth to immigrant bash, he costs his county a lot of money. So be it.

Mr. Stewart is also helping the GOP lose votes every time he opens his mouth. As Markos documented earlier this month, immigration bashing is a political loser:

Pew surveys have tracked the GOP’s cratering popularity with Hispanics from a 49-28 deficit in voter identification in 2006 to 57-23 in 2007. All of this comes during a cycle when the Hispanic percentage of the overall vote is estimated to reach 14 percent, compared to 9.3 percent in 2004. (It was 12.8 percent in the 2007 off-year elections.)

What’s this all mean? Karl Rove gets it when he says, “I am worried. You cannot ignore the aspirations of the fastest-growing minority in America.” The GOP’s top tactician knows his party faces a world of hurt for years to come. The GOP thought they had their new wedge issue in immigration — instead, as NDN concludes, “the relentless demonization of Hispanics by the GOP has turned this community, the fastest growing part of the American electorate, against them.”

Ironically, even the GOP’s own supporters don’t buy the harsh rhetoric. According to exit polls from this year’s primary states, Republican voters oppose deportation in most states, from 54 percent in Louisiana, Georgia and Virginia to 61 percent in Texas.

The vocal anti-immigrant fringe promised electoral gold to Republicans. Instead, it’s delivering electoral annihilation.

So, keep it up, Mr. Stewart.