‘We’re broken.’ In the suburbs north of Los Angeles, voters feel fed up and afraid of outsiders. But in the Los Angeles Times’ poll, they don’t support those who want to build a wall to keep illegal immigrants out, and think the federal government should pay for it.
“More than half of suburban voters say the federal government should pay for any wall, and only a third say it need not,” writes the Times’ Andrew R. Laster. “They are much more likely than their L.A. County counterparts to favor limiting legal immigration.”
More than half of suburban voters say the federal government should pay for any wall. And only a third say it need not. And they are much more likely than their L.A. County counterparts to favor limiting legal immigration.
Yet, the suburbs have a much higher-than-L.A. county-wide approval rating for both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
These suburban voters may have an unfair perspective. According to the Times, suburban voters are “more likely to say that the government should cover the cost of the wall than say the federal government should cover the cost.”
But the Times goes on to say, “Suburban voters overwhelmingly support the kinds of policies they see as having the greatest benefits.” In order to reach out to these voters, the Times suggests, the Republican party needs to do a better job of appealing to blue-collar voters.
“But that’s what the Republicans really need to do,” writes the Times’ Andrew R. Laster. “They should reach out to the growing ranks of voters who oppose immigrants and the welfare state, and who are worried that the rich are getting too much of what is available.
“The suburban revolt reflects both the national anger at politics and the growing sense of economic resentment in America.”
If the Los Angeles Times’ poll on the wall proves to be accurate, it could be one of the first real opportunities for Republican candidates in the 2014 mid-term elections.
More at the Los Angeles Times.
Update: On the Republican Party’s “Stop Wall St,” see here and here.
