Back in 2004, George W Bush pandered to the far-left, illegal immigration-supporting League of United Latin American Citizens and it didn't go very well.

Earlier today, Texas governor Rick Perry followed in Bush's footsteps in yet another way by pandering to and getting the cold shoulder from a far-left, illegal immigration-supporting group.

One slight difference this time is that Perry spoke to a different group, NALEO (link):

Gov. Rick Perry received a tepid response when he addressed the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials on Thursday, joking about the pronunciation of a Hispanic appointee's last name and frequently staring blankly at the audience when they failed to respond to his conservative applause lines.

In his defense, Hispanic politicians had earlier spoken passionately against his policies, deriding them as hurtful to Hispanics. Perry chose to ignore those topics and instead touted his appointments of the first Hispanic women to serve as secretary of state and to both of the state's highest courts.

Personally, if I were Perry, I'd assign staffers to present valid, logical arguments against those politicians and catch them in lies and misleading statements and in general work to discredit them. And - at the speech itself - I'd challenge them to back up their claims and otherwise attempt to show how they're wrong.

I'd also point out that NALEO has a direct albeit minor link to the Mexican government; see the link.

The fact that Perry and his supporters can't and won't do that and that Perry chooses to pander to rather than confront a far-left group that supports illegal immigration and that's linked to a foreign government is not a good sign.