Both Barack Obama and John McCain are “hispandering” to the extreme in their pursuit of Latino voters. But can we buy this sudden enthusiasm for Latino voters? Is it genuine?
McCain’s campaign has even aired a commercial with Spanish subtitles (see the video clip above) that calls Latino immigrants “God’s Children” and talks about what Latino immigrants have done for this country as U.S. soldiers. The ad is stunning and won’t likely make the Minutemen very happy.
Other outreach efforts by both campaigns have been awkward. Check out this excerpt from the AP: “They just come to me and say, ‘Who are the bosses of the Latin community?'” said Patrick Manteiga, who runs a family-owned newspaper for Hispanics in Tampa’s historic Cuban neighborhood of Ybor City. “That’s like coming and asking, ‘Who are the bosses of white America, of the soccer moms?'”
As one might expect, Obama has a huge lead in the chase for Latino voters. “A recent AP-Yahoo News poll found Obama leading McCain 47 percent to 22 percent among Hispanic voters, with 26 percent undecided.”
The difficulty for both of these presidential nominees is that Latino voters are quite diverse. Some of them have been in this country for generations. Others are more recent immigrants. And they all hail from different countries. In some cases they lean GOP, as is the case with Cuban voters, but most of the time they go with the blue party. And their income, education and age are big factors in determining who they might vote for.
Do these voters really matter?
“According to the Pew Research Center, Hispanics are the nation’s largest minority group, at 42 million people and 14 percent of the population. By 2050, that population will triple, to 128 million, which will be 29 percent of the American population,” according to a commentary by former Bush U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, published in the Duluth News Tribune.
And “in the strategic states of New Mexico, Florida and Colorado, Hispanics make up, respectively, 37 percent, 14 percent and 12 percent of eligible voters.”
I for one don’t think Latino voters should vote for McCain. He belongs to a party that, for the most part, hates Latinos. Even if McCain is sincere, his party won’t let him do anything to help Latinos.
As for Obama, he has a ways to go in his outreach to Latinos. What many Latino leaders want to know is will he appoint Latinos to his cabinet? Will he really help the immigrants? Will the Democrats in Congress work with him in that effort? We don’t know the answers to those questions yet, but at least he is not a Republican. That’s a start.
Well, with 15 Cabinet positions up for grabs, and Latinos representing 14% of the population, that means a proportional representation on the Cabinet would be 2 Latinos.
So the real question becomes, can Latinos be happy with that?
Senator McCain isn’t pandering. As long ago as 1999, he was being heralded as a “longtime friend of the Hispanic community” by none other as Raul Yzaguirre. Where was Barak 10 years ago?
And he is getting so much support from Latinos that LULAC cancelled their Presidential star poll this week when it appeared that Senator McCain was going to win it!
Oops. Meant Presidential “straw” poll.
#1,
If one of them is Bill Richardson I will be happy. But I hope Antonio Villaraigosa doesn’t get the other appointment! The women in D.C. won’t be safe with him around…
#2,
No question that McCain has had a better record on immigration than most Reeps, but do you really think his party will let him do ANYTHING to help Latinos? I truly doubt it.
Did you happen to follow this year’s Assembly primary contest between Mimi Walters and Harry Sidhu? They acted as if immigration was the only issue that mattered – and each went to great lengths to prove that they was more anti-Latino than the other. That is today’s GOP, sad to say.
Barring some sort of miracle, Democratic control of Congress will become stronger next year. McCain has a track record of being able to work across the aisle to try to get something done.
The only legislation that Barak has successfully led to passage was the “Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act.” Even though Democrats control Congress!
I’ve got to trust someone with a proven record, rather than a pretty stump speech.
#2, you ask where Barack was 10 years ago. Uh, have you not noticed the vast difference in age between the 2 candidates?
“The women in D.C. won’t be safe with him around…”
That’s because you hold things politicians do wrong in their personal lives against them for the rest of their natural lives.
Republicans reaching out to Latinos is not a new endeavor. Ron Winship and I attended the visit of president Bush to Ontario, CA on Jan 5, 2002 to the Working for America Town Hall meeting sponsored by the Latino Coalition Foundation, Ontario Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the O.C. Hispanic Chamber.
Chairman Mario Rodriguez stated “many elected officials make promises but don’t deliver. President Bush has appointed more Latino’s in Federal Government than any president.” He mentions that Latinos have been at the table during discussion of economic, health care and immigration issues.
To view this event simply go to http://www.cuttingedge-atalkshow.com
and scroll through the Archives to Bush Town Hall, currently third from the bottom, where you will hear president Bush 43 open by speaking in Spanish at the packed house Ontario Convention Center.
Barack Obama was a community organizer in the 80’s and worked with inner city black and latino leaders on issues of concern to them, like education, after school activities, and government programs that help or hurt the community. This experience inspired him to become an Attorney and work in the area of Civil Rights.
In the 90’s he was elected to the Illinois Legislature and began his political journey throughout the 90’s and 2000’s. I think he has a clear understanding of the challenges facing all working men and women in this country and a plan to bring us together to work for the changes that will benefit everyone together.
Politicians do pander to groups of voters during elections. Mostly to tell those voters that the politician understands the importance of their issues and that he will not exclude them from the process. I think these positions are self-evident in Barack Obama but not so much for John McCain.
For one thing if you take the history of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party versus the history of John McCain and the Republican Party everyone can agree on one thing. A Democrat is able to do things in office that his party doesnt agree with (Jolting Joe Liebermann for example) while a Republican may not do the same thing and act contrary to the wishes of his party.
anonymous.
Thak you for bringing up Obamas credentials regarding education in inner ciy Chicago.
Where you say: Barack Obama was a community organizer in the 80’s and worked with inner city black and latino leaders on issues of concern to them, like education, after school activities,..
What’s the real result of his efforts:
“Although Hispanic enrollment rates are slightly less than white and black enrollment rates at younger ages, they start to fall off more dramatically after age 15. By the age of 17, over 20% of Hispanics are not enrolled in school in the City of Chicago and almost 25% are not enrolled in the suburbs of Chicago. Enrollment rates for Hispanics are about the same as for blacks at age 18 in the City of Chicago; only one in two Hispanics are enrolled in school at age 18 in the Chicago suburbs.
Although the vast majority of students in suburban schools graduate from high school, with a high percentage going on to college, this is not the case in the City of Chicago. In a recent study, the four-year high school graduation rate in public schools in Chicago was estimated at only 54%.7 Although the high school graduation rate is low in many large cities in the United States, the rate in Chicago is lower than in many other large cities. For example, in a study of the largest public school districts in the United States, the 2001-02 graduation rate was estimated at 51% for Chicago, while it was 66% for New York City and 59% for Philadelphia.”
And he wants these same drop outs to “learn another language.” Focus on getting them to attend and graduate high school continuuing on to either a trade school or college if they are to survive in these challenging times in America.