Republican Party leaders certainly have a good chance of increasing their support from Latinos and moderate swing voters nationwide ("Wooing Latinos Tough for the GOP," Dec. 31), but they are misguided in thinking they only need to retool their message and shed the stigma of Prop. 187. Their problem in wooing moderate and low-income voters of all ethnicities comes from their adherence to dubious policy. The GOP is the party of the tax cut (90% for the rich) in good times and bad, and what middle-class person is going to swallow that? On social issues the GOP has abdicated good judgment to the religious right and its uncompromising positions, and what moderate person will accept that?
Getting moderates elected locally is not the answer, since the national party demands obedience. One Richard Riordan is not going to change the party's hard-edged image. While President Bush sought to portray a politics of compassion and bipartisanship, his policies and appointments have shown the same old stale ideas (not that the Democrats have anything new). There are great opportunities for the GOP in California and nationwide, but they will require a fundamental shift away from supply side economics and sanctimonious social policy.
Thomas McGovern
