Cruz: '47 percent' comment hurt GOP with Hispanics more than immigration

Sen.-elect Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told conservative activists Friday that Mitt Romney's "47 percent" remark ultimately hurt the GOP more with Hispanics than President Obama's move to halt deportation proceedings for some illegal immigrants.

“Do you want to know why Barack Obama won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote?” Cruz asked at an event sponsored by the American Principles Project, according to the Daily Caller.  “The tone of immigration contributed, but I think far more important was ’47 percent.’”

Cruz went on to say that Romney's remark, recorded secretly at a closed-door fundraiser in Boca Raton, Fla., gave the impression that Republicans saw no pathways of opportunity for those who received government benefits.

“I think Mitt Romney’s a good man, a man of character, a man who ran a hard, disciplined campaign,” he said. “But Republicans nationally, the story we conveyed, was 47 percent are stuck in a static world. We don’t have to worry about them is what that clip famously said.”

Cruz also said the Romney campaign had failed to adequately address Democratic characterizations of a "war on women." The Texas lawmaker said Democrats forwarded "an utterly ridiculous notion" and the argument Republicans wanted to ban contraception was “absolute and complete nonsense.”

Instead, Cruz went on to argue that Republicans should focus on fine-tuning their message of "opportunity conservatism" and do a better job of signaling inclusiveness, rather than dramatic shifts on policy matters.

Cruz said the key to winning back groups like Hispanics was not simply to give in on immigration reform.

 “Nobody,” Cruz said, “is going to vote for you if they believe you don’t like them.”

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