The Texas GOP adopted a platform at their convention in Dallas that is new only in the sense of how regressive it is. The highlights include making it a misdemeanor to be present in Texas without documentation, making it a felony to perform same-sex marriages, and eliminating kindergarten. This is so bad, it is good for progressives, kind of like Rand Paul and Sarah Palin.
Texas really doesn't have any Hispanics in higher office; the GOP got rid of the sole Hispanic (Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo); however, there are alot of Hispanic voters who may carry more clout this fall. According to the Houston Chronicle,
Hispanics will make up 78 percent of Texas' population growth over the next 30 years, compared with only 4 percent for whites, according to demographic projections.
Houston Chronicle, June 13)
The Texas provision is similar to the Arizona law, and is thus divisive, invades privacy, leads to racial profiling, and is inhumane. (Don't expect the Bushes' home state to yield to any humanitarian sense of decency; however, the draconian stance on immigration may be clipped by the business interestes who rely heavily on undocumented workers).
The GOP felt that pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs are unnecessary because, ""We believe that parents are best suited to train their children in their early development." This belief is unfounded when considering the disproportionate number of Hispanic students referred for special education services, attending remedial summer school, and in juvenile detention. Hispanic families with young children, and parents working sixteen hours a day, will remember which party deprived them of reliable and safe, daily education for their children.