By Alain Castillo
Latina Lista
This week, several Hispanic American professionals voiced their opinions about the presidential candidates before the November 6 general election. The respondents’ views were as diverse as their current careers and cities.
The Southeast: Two Floridians, Two Different Views
Danny del Toro, 27, a local government public service worker from Miami, FL, backs the incumbent President Barack Obama and he has a laundry list of reasons.
Among them is trust.
“I believe a true leader does not have to spend part of his campaign convincing people that he can relate to them as Romney did,” he said.
“It is natural for him [Obama].”
Del Toro says that Obama is also realistic, saying that any candidate is not going to drastically improve the economy, but he sees that the current economy is on a slow and natural upward course.
Any change in leadership, he says, will make it “worse.”
He continues on the domestic front, saying that Americans who work hard may also need help. Del Toro points to college and graduate students who can’t find jobs and also to financial aid issues.
He also believes that Romney is “not well informed on foreign policy” and “a bit disrespectful to foreign leaders.”
This, he says, will have dire consequences.
“This may lead to other wars or attacks and therefore endangering the people and hurting the economy more.”
Early voting has begun in many states and many Americans have already gone to the polls.
Small business co-owner Diana Fernandez, 27, from Miramar, just north of Miami, already voted for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
“I voted for Romney because his values are similar to mine,” Fernandez said, agreeing on Romney’s stances on abortion, stem cell research and marriage.
Unlike del Toro, however, Fernandez does not trust Obama.
“I also don’t have much trust in our current president, especially after the whole Benghazi situation.”
Fernandez also agrees with Romney on foreign policy, government deregulation, the economy, national security issues.
“I hear the Obama campaign saying that ‘Romney doesn’t care about women’, but I couldn’t care less about the government worrying about my birth control… that’s my problem,“ Fernandez said.
Fernandez notes that as a mother she worries about the economy and what is in store for her children in the near future and agrees with Romney on foreign policy, government deregulation, the economy and national security issues.
West Coast: Liberal View, Radical Solution
Lai-Si Fernandez, 28, a performing artist and thespian from Los Angeles, CA, suggests that local school teachers and firemen, not the current candidates, should be elected.
“We, as a nation, should go to the capitol, fire everyone and elect our real peers to represent us like Jesse Ventura and Ron Paul,” she said.
The Northwest: Down and Disillusioned
However, Anthony Navas, 30, a writer who lives in Seattle, Washington, thinks his vote doesn’t count and is “disillusioned” with the electoral process.
“The major issues regarding climate change, the depletion of our natural resources and the impending financial meltdown in Europe are given little attention,” he said.
“Instead, we are presented with a series of political games whose aim is only to entertain and maintain the façade that people have control over their collective fate.”
The general election is this Tuesday, November 6.
Latina Lista contributor Alain Castillo is a Dallas-based freelance writer.
