Latina Lista: News from the Latinx perspective > Palabra Final > Politics > Why Isn’t Sen. John McCain Responding to Latino Bloggers?

Why Isn’t Sen. John McCain Responding to Latino Bloggers?

LatinaLista — It’s no big secret that a lot of Latinos like Senator John McCain. In fact, rumor has it that some Latinos will actually switch parties to vote for the Arizona senator if their candidate of choice isn’t selected as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Sen. John McCain
Latinos like McCain’s military service and the fact that McCain’s own son is serving in Iraq. With so many Latino families in his same shoes, it’s no wonder they feel a kindred spirit with the man.
McCain’s efforts to try and get Congress to reform the immigration issue did not go unnoticed either. Regardless of how imperfect the proposed legislation was, it was more than what most members of Congress have done.
The fact that he’s from a border state and is intimately familiar with the Latino culture doesn’t hurt either.
So why isn’t McCain reaching out to Latinos, especially if he’s been invited?


Last fall, Latina Lista invited the presidential candidates of both parties to blog at Latina Lista. To date, all the major Democratic candidates accepted the invitation. Of the Republican candidates, only Mitt Romney accepted.
When it became clear that Sen. McCain was the Republican nominee for President, the invitation was extended again to him …and again, and again. Latina Lista has been trying to get Sen. McCain to post a guest blog for several months now. An email to the person handling his press queries told Latina Lista that the request had been forwarded.
No word yet as to whether or not Sen. McCain will accept.
Is it because the immigration issue is too highly connected with Latinos? McCain even admitted in August that his stand on illegal immigration angered a lot of people to the point he received death threats.

“It is unbelievable how this has inflamed the passions of the American people,” the Arizona senator said in remarks at The Aspen Institute, a public policy forum. In an interview, he declined to elaborate on the threats he had received.

But you don’t ignore one segment of the population to appease another.
And the Republican Party wonders why it might be hard to attract more Latino voters to their side.
It’s one thing to be ignored. It’s another to act like we don’t exist.
A simple acknowledgement can work wonders.

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Comment(16)

  • adriana
    April 10, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    He has to pander to the anti-immigration wing of his party right now, especially those who don’t think that he’s conservative enough.
    Yet, you will find disgruntled Latino Democrats who would consider voting for McCain, especially since “La Hillary” has essentially lost, but the traditional media won’t officially acknowledge it.

  • Hran
    April 10, 2008 at 11:22 pm

    To the conservatives who want to preserve America, McCain’s immigration bill was an abomination. The bill is wrong on many levels; for one thing, it gives amnesty to those who have broken US law. Not only is this a slap in the face to those who wait and go through the immigration process legally, it is an utter negation of the rule of law, one of the pillars of our nation.
    Another bogus feature of the bill was that the illegals would have to learn English and pay fines, etc. As Bush once tried to say, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” We had been promised similar things when the first big amnesty was passed in 1984. All congress has to do is not fund any of these measures. No fence, no border security, no money to test for English competency, etc. If this bill passed, nothing would change. We’d be in the exact same position 20 years from now, but with 50 million illegals instead of 12 (or whatever the current figure is).

  • EYES OF TEXAS
    April 11, 2008 at 7:17 am

    McCains sponsorship of the Bush/Kennedy Shamnesty Bill has put the fear into him to the point that he will not address his stand on illegal immigration or illegal aliens. The members of the Republican Party came down on him very hard for trying to reward amnesty to people who have violated our immigration laws and continue to thumb their noses at the law. McCain will stay away from any type of forum that centers around illegal immigration and the 12 to 20 million illegal aliens presently in our country.

  • laura
    April 11, 2008 at 9:27 am

    I feel sorry for those Latinos who want to vote for McCain.
    Ha may have had honesty and integrity in the past. Now, since his run for President, he embraces all the Rpublican/Bush positions: stay in Iraq indefinitely. No help for families losing their homes. Attack Iran. No fair immigration reform.
    Since he is clearly stating these points of his program, no one should be surprised if he implements exactly that, when elected with Latino votes.
    I feel sorry for all who will suffer from the death blow to the standing of the US, and to our lives here in this country, if Republicans hold on to the Presidency.
    Just like in 2004, we got exactly what Bush said he would do: “stay the course” in Iraq, soak the poor to give to the rich, spy on Americans … Why are people upset with Bush now ? They voted for him to do exactly what he said he would do in 2004. And he received 40% of the Latino vote.

  • Frank
    April 11, 2008 at 9:34 am

    Why should any candidate reach out to a particular group of Americans? You like ethnic/divisive politics? People being treated special? Shouldn’t we all just be Americans and forget race, ethnicity and skin color? All of the issues affect all of us Americans.
    Why does a candidate have to be soft on illegal immigration to gain the Hispanic vote?

  • Dee
    April 11, 2008 at 10:22 am

    McCain will not acknowledge Latino voters before the election. I saw him on cable news yesterday. He said he will be announcing his new stand on illegal immigration this week. This move is set to appease the ANTI CIR crowd.
    Latinos should vote Democrat this election, whether the candidate be Hillary or Obama.

  • Texano78704
    April 11, 2008 at 10:39 am

    It is ironic that “conservatives” talk about the rule of law, while continuing to support the most lawless president ever.
    Why isn’t Juan McCain reaching out to Latinos? Probably for the same reason that Republicans do not attempt to reach out to African-American, they know they can expect little or no support from them for the “conservative agenda.”

  • Hran
    April 11, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    Frank:
    “Shouldn’t we all just be Americans and forget race, ethnicity and skin color? All of the issues affect all of us Americans.”
    You hit the nail on the head. I doubt any of the Latinas here can adequately respond to you, because they are intent on furthering the interests of their own ethnic group whether it corresponds to the interests of the nation at large or not.

  • Frank
    April 11, 2008 at 6:30 pm

    Most Republican conservatives in this country do not like Bush and can’t wait for him to leave office. They reflect the same views of most Americans in this country regardless of party affiliation.
    Again, why should any politician reach out to certain groups? Why not reach out to all Americans and realize that in a democracy the majority view’s rules and so do our laws.

  • Publius
    April 12, 2008 at 9:34 am

    “Reaching out”, is a euphemism for pandering and making concessions and doing special favors. While it’s fine to take an interest in the problems of Latinos, and help them be on par socioeconomically with others in this country, it’s not acceptable to give them privileges not granted to other ethnic groups or races. Latinos want other Americans to concede is that they’re coming into power, and that although their family members and friends have cheated our immigration system, we’re to ignore it and pretend that it’s all for the best, in spite of the long term detrimental economic affects. I’m sorry for Latinos, but it makes little sense to most of us to adopt 12 million poor and illiterate Hispanics from Mexico and other countries in Central America. We wouldn’t do this for Pakistanis, Indians, or third world nations, so why should we concede this to Latinos?
    This power grab may have worked in the days of of the old time corrupt politics, played successively by the Irish and Italians of New York City, but it wont work today. You’ve all seen the movie “Gangs of New York”, well that’s more or less a true story of how 19th century Irish bullied their way into controlling that city’s politics, through the sheer numbers that were dumped here by the English during the potato famine. I’m an Irish American, and even I deplore the Irish mobs that almost destroyed the city by violence and corruption. This ability to control money and votes is exactly what Latinos see for themselves, albeit in a less violent way.
    A guest worker program of the magnitude proposed by Congress would be so expensive and difficult to manage that it wouldn’t be viable. During recessions, guest workers wouldn’t go home, but abandon their contract and “hide in the shadows”, as they’d feel they could still make more money here than in Mexico, abeit working infrequently and under the table and living contrary to zoning laws in crowded conditions and contrary to acceptable health standards. And, judging by the protection currently given them by Latino communities today in this country, we’d have the same debate about illegal immigration under a guest worker program, as we have now.
    Only reforms in Mexico and the rest of Central America would solve the difference in standards of living that are the driving force for illegal immigration and the cause of socioeconomic injustice for people south of our border. Sadly, Hispanics Americans are short-sighted and fail to expend their energies in that direction, preferring to focus on the few the emigrate rather than the tens of millions who do not.

  • Frank
    April 12, 2008 at 10:53 am

    You are right on the money, Publius.

  • Alex
    April 13, 2008 at 7:05 pm

    Shouldn’t we all remember that we are all God’s children and help each other out as good brothers and sisters. Specially those who are in need as Jesus tells us. Demonizing people who just came looking for job and a better life for them and their families is not the right way.

  • Frank
    April 14, 2008 at 11:57 am

    There is only so much that American citizens can do to help the poor in other countries. There are people in other countries much poorer than Mexicans are. We cannot help the whole world’s poor by inviting them into our country to live. That is only common sense!

  • wayne
    April 14, 2008 at 7:22 pm

    As an ESL teacher my heart has been broken many times when i hear of the problems and INJUSTICE that some of the undocumented have persevered.
    But of the 100 or so that i’ve
    “personally” known I’ve asked this question.
    When mexico had the presidental election last year, did you vote (absentee voting is allowed).
    Not a one answered in the afirmative. So one needs to ask, si el EEUU necessitan cambiar las leyes aqui hacer nuevo then how will mexico ever manage to make it’s country better if all the young adventures adults do not stay to make mexico a better place to live?

  • Jonah
    July 10, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    What? Obama is absolutely dominating McCain in Latino polls.
    http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Obama_dominates_McCain_among_Hispan_07022008.html
    59% to 29%. Where are your sources indicating the McCain has any kind of advantage with Latino voters?
    And if what you say is true, be happy to know that McCain would much rather have the angry white male (Oh no the NAFTA superhighway and the Mexicans are coming, run away!) vote than the Latino vote, as you know one does not easily permit the other.

  • Jas
    August 9, 2008 at 9:28 pm

    Why do Latinos try to attract attention at all?
    For years most Americans have been watching the nightly news – and special programs which showed the constant attempts by Mexicans to bring drugs over the border. And, law enforcement has stated for years that Mexico is the source of drugs which are such a huge negative force for our country. Not all, just a huge part.
    Latinos have an unwillingness to admit anything negative. They can’t grow up enough. Many people of color do not support their efforts to deceive the American public. We went to college. We know where drugs come from.
    We aren’t impressed with Charlie Sheen or Santana.

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