The election, and particularly how it was won, had driven home how racially polarized and divided the electorate was.157 George W. Bush, however, didn’t believe the situation was hopeless. While only 9 percent of African Americans voted for him, 35 percent of Hispanics had cast their ballot for Bush.158 His strategist, therefore, argued that the Republicans could broaden their appeal to minorities and thus avert the demographic apocalypse that awaited a party that was nearly 90 percent white. In addition to immigration reform, one of his key strategies was to have full White House and
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