LatinaLista — Ever since last week’s Senate vote for Sotomayor, where only 9 Republican Senators — 4 of which will be retiring at the end of 2010 –, articles, blog posts and cable news shows have been talking about whether or not the Republicans who voted against Sotomayor will feel the wrath of Latino voters.
Now, it would be petty to think that Latino voters would extract any kind of “an eye-for-an-eye” if someone didn’t vote for Sotomayor because they honestly felt she wasn’t the right person for the job. However, when several Republican senators, who let it be known they were on “the fence” regarding their vote, suddenly declared their opposition to Sotomayor only after the National Rifle Association threatened to score against them for voting for her, well, their actions certainly don’t endear Latino voters to them.
In fact, if people entrusted with the public trust to represent them are so blatant as to pick and choose whom they want to represent, it’s only fair that Latinos help get those politicians elected who want to represent Latinos in Congress.
If Republicans were worried about any backlash, they don’t have to anymore — it’s already begun.
Before a sold-out audience in San Antonio last weekend, comedian George Lopez reminded his audience of how Republicans voted against Sotomayor and repeated several times to his audience that Latinos would not be voting for those Republicans in upcoming elections.
It’s not a threat given the latest research that shows Latinos are finally understanding how to play this juego (game) called politics.
It was known that in the 2008 presidential election, voters of color turned out in higher numbers. An analysis done by the US Census and released last month reported that among Latinos, 2 million more Latino voters turned out to vote in the 2008 presidential election.
But what does 2 million really mean?
A newly released fact sheet done by the Immigration Policy Center sheds light on that question. Researchers compared the Current Population Survey data on voters in 2004 and 2008 and found that 2 million more voters is extremely significant when it comes to predicting future trends among a group of people who are experiencing a continually heightened awareness of the value of political clout.
The Immigration Policy Center found that the number of Latino voters increased by 28.4%, or 2.2 million–from 7.6 million in 2004 to 9.8 million in 2008.
Among all voters of color, it was the most significant increase — Asian voters increased by 21.3%, blacks by 15.1% and non-Latino white voters by only a paltry .5%.
The personal outrage felt by the majority of Latinos against those Republicans who voted against Sotomayor should not be underestimated. The outrage exists even as Republicans don’t believe it.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tx., disputed the notion that latino voters, who voted 2 to 1 for Obama over McCain in 2008, might be reluctant to support Republicans in next year’s midterm elections based on the Sotomayor vote.
“I think that’s just Democratic cheerleading,” he said.
The outrage is being discussed among people on listserves, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, in cafes, churches and clubs. The realization that Republicans were willing to make a political statement over doing what was right, at the expense of the Latino community, is dawning on the masses.
As well as the knowledge that the Latino community is moving towards a direction where it can do something about it.
The following YouTube clip is a recording of the George Lopez HBO special where he voices the outrage felt by Latinos over the Sotomayor vote:
Comment(14)
Henriqe
Ha! Lopez doesn’t speak for me. If that’s all you’ve got then I think you’re dreaming. I’ve been a conservative Republican for 20 years and I think that I can recognize an arrogant liberal when I see one. Sotomayor is a closet wanabe revisionist of Constitutional law. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s a progressive; that given the opportunity, she’d re-write that document based on the belief that it’s flexible, and can be changed without amendment. Your assessment is on shaky ground.
cookie
So one must vote for a Latino regardless that they made racist, sextist statements or incur the rath of Latinos? What does that say about the Latino community?
Latinos typically vote Democrat anyway. Most minorities do. So no, there was no loss to the Republicans. The only way the Republicans can gain the Latino vote is to become Democrats in policy and pander to all their demands. It would be a cold day in hell that I would sacrifice my principles for a self-centered special interest group and I am glad that there are still some Republicans who won’t do it either.
How soon the Latino community forgets that they are overwhelmingly outnumbered by non-hispanics in this country. Why in the world would any politican pander to a minority group rather than the majority anyway? It doesn’t make any sense.
Marisa Treviño
Yet, Cookie, historically whenever a person of color ran for office against a white politician the person of color hardly, if ever, won. Why is that? Not qualified enough? Or could it be that whites vote for whites regardless of qualifications. We saw that happen in the presidential election where some Anglo voters went on air and said they would never vote for a black man. And I’ll let you in on a little secret — Latinos aren’t anywhere near as loyal to a political party as they are to the party that listens and represents them the best.
irma
Cookie said “Why in the world would any politican pander to a minority group rather than the majority anyway? It doesn’t make any sense. ”
If you havent noticed, Latin-Americans
will soon be the majority ( California, Texas, New Mexico, Illinois, Florida etc)
By soon, I mean in less than 30 years-maybe even less in some areas.
The smart politician plans ahead if they want to remain in office.
Do Latin Americans always vote Democrat?
No, but the point is that we rarely vote
Republican.
cookie
Irma, so our politicans should pander to a group that might be the majority 30 years from now? That’s kind stupid isn’t it so far off in the future. Why not pander to the group that is the majority today? Besides the only way that Hispanics will become the majority in 30 years is if amnesty is given to the illegals and our borders don’t get secured once again.
I don’t think politicians should pander to the majority or minority. They should just do what is right for this country.
cookie
Marisa, I don’t doubt that there were a minority of whites who would not vote for a candidate soley based on their race. However, I am just as sure that there were African-Americans who voted for Obama primarily because of his race. I seriously doubt whether the Black Panthers or followers of Louis Farrakhan would vote for a white candidate over a black one.
In this day and age, the number of “Anglos” who would not vote for someone soley based upon their race are few and far between.
African-Americans are much more a monolithic voting block than either Euro- or Hispanic Americans.
Seriously, what are you trying to “prove?” There are many, many non-whites holding public office today. There are those in every race who would rather vote for someone of their own race/ethnicity! Latinos are the worst offenders as far as I can see! The fact that Obama got so much of the “white vote” is proof that race is not that much of a factor in choosing a candidate at least as far as most modern-day whites are concerned. It has MUCH more to do with whether a candidates political views are compatible!
I always get a kick out of how the example of six neo-Nazis left in the country is “proof” that whites are racists; yet, it is completely ignored that black/brown nationalists vote soley based upon race. Blacks came out in DROVES in this election to vote, many of them for the first time. They overwhelmingly (over 90%) voted for Obama. Should we then infer that blacks voted against McCain because most of them are racist against whites? Hmmm….
irma
Cookie, if you havent noticed minorities
have recently pooled their vote. That is how the Democrats regained control of the White House and Congress.
Political pandering is now directed toward those who voted Democrat in the last election. Latin Americans dont have to wait 30 years to have political impact.
We have it now when we vote with other minorities (African Americans and the so called majority of Americans). They voted with us to elect a Democrat for president.
Indiana Bob
Yo Cookie,
I am not trying to get into a fight, but what exactly are you basing your “Sotomayor is a racist” line.
I have tried to debunk that before, but every post of yours starts with calling her a racist, and I just don’t understand where you are getting that. You seem to be an intelligent person, so I hope you aren’t basing this on the Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity rhetoric.
Click on my name for an analysis of her civil rights/discrimination rulings, you will be surprised by what you find.
irma
Cookie,
What exactly is a white person?
My Mexican mother had white skin and could not get brown at all. Her Mexican father had white skin, or perhaps to be more correct it was sort of pink white. He couldn’t tan at all. They would have said they were Mexican and left it at that.
Are Italians white? It is my understanding that they are a diverse group at the DNA level. Are Jews white ? The Ashkenazim often have white skin,
but the Sephardim tend to have brown skin. Are Arabs white? Some Palestinians, Iraqis, Iranians and Jordanians, Afghanis have white skin- others dont. Some even have blue eyes. What about Spaniards?
The Moors were in Spain almost 700 years. Some Spaniards have white skin
others dont. How about Armenians,
Albanians, Croatians etc.
I ask you , can you please tell me what is white?
cookie
Irma, minorities has always typically been Democrats and voted that way. It is just that this time around a partially black man ran for the presidency and therefore many more blacks voted for him. I believe it was around 90% of them. Latinos voted for him because they had their amnesty agenda and thought that he would fulfill their wishes rather than the Republicans and as I said they typically vote Democrat anyway. Obama could not have won without the white vote either. Latinos do not have that kind of pull on their own and neither do blacks. Their numbers are just not there and all the wishful thinking in the world will make it so in the future if we enforce our immigration laws as we should.
cookie
Indiana Bob, let me put it this way, if a white male judge has said “I think as a white male judge with the richness of my experiences would more than likely come to better decisions than a female Hispanic judge”, I would consider that a racist, sextist remark on the white male judge’s part.
cookie
Irma, you have to ask what is the white race? Do you also question what and who are the black race? I doubt it. It isn’t just about skin color as each race has varying shades of skin color. It is more about genetics than anything. Never heard of the word “Caucasian”? Look it up in the dictionary.
Rather than ask what constitutes “white,” you should ask the U.S. government. When it comes to “minority” benefits or special privileges such as Affirmative Action, race-based scholarships, business or housing loans, they sure seem to know how to identify “white.”
Or perhaps you could ask the few who post in here who like to blame “white people” for all the evils in this country and the world in general. Or perhaps you could ask the president of Brazil who blamed the world’s financial crisis on white people (well, technically only those with “blue eyes”) he also seems to have the information you seek.
Those who seek to demonize “whites” never seem to have any problem identifying them, ask them! Even Sonia Sotomayor had no problem identifying Ricci and the New Haven firefighters as “white” or at the very least NOT “non-white.” I am sure she’d also be able to answer the question adequately. A significant number of those firefighters were of Italian descent; they were considered “white enough” to be denied promotions based upon their race (even denied a hearing).
It’s funny how when race can be used for their benefit, certain people have no problem whatsoever determining what “white” is and yet at other times, deny that there really is such a thing. If there is no “white” then I suppose you shouldn’t have any problem doing away with Affirmative Action and all organizations which purport to advance the causes of non-whites, right?
Texan123
Latinos of voting age have not yet become the majority. Even if reform passes, it will not grant instant citizenship or voting rights.
Latino immigrants may have the numbers and no doubt are growing daily. Having the right to vote is what matters.
cookie
Irma, you are incorrect about Latinos becoming the majority anytime soon.
I don’t know where you keep getting this from. All you have to do is google the demographic projections for the U.S. to see that even by 2050, whites will still be the majority group in this nation! They are projected to be slightly less than half of the population. The other half is to be made up of all non-whites, including Latinos, Asians, blacks, Native Americans.
For the Latino demographic, anyone who has even one grandparent who is Latino can identify as Latino! Therefore, that 20 – 25% projection for 2050 is greatly inflated.
You and other Latinos need get some perspective on this issue and stop making these wild and inaccurate statements! I know that you are just drooling to become the “majority,” but it just isn’t going to happen! More likely what will happen is that Latinos will become more white by mixing in with the overwhelming majority of white Americans.
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