LatinaLista — As the countdown continues to the 2012 election and pundits and the media continually speculate as to which party will eventually win the Latino vote, it’s bad enough Latino voters have to endure the denigrating political rhetoric regarding illegal immigration but there are worse things…like watching politicians do everything in their power to undermine Latino voters.
Both parties are guilty of it.
It’s a refined strategy to either keep people guessing, staying confused or deluding them.
For example, while the GOP politicians on the campaign trail have made no secret of their stands on illegal immigration, they have nonetheless, or at least the party, continue to do outreach to Latino voters.
On the Latino page of the GOP website, the welcome message reads:
Welcome to the Republican National Committee Strategic Partnership Webpage for Hispanic/Latino-Americans. The purpose of this Website is to have open communications on the goals and vision of the Republican Party and to hear what you think and what concerns you.
Our mission is to strengthen and grow a strategic partnership with the Hispanic/Latino-American Community by focusing on the core values that unite us.
Nice sentiment but how can it be true when lawyers for the Department of Justice contend that “congressional and state representative redistricting maps signed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry had not only the effect but the intent of limiting the voting power of Hispanic voters.”
The exact number of voters was 479,704.
The federal lawyers are so sure of this — “(there is) ample circumstantial evidence of a discriminatory purpose with regard to both the State House and Congressional plans” — that they have filed a lawsuit because they feel that only in court can the truth come out.
Race and ethnicity, the lawyers wrote “were common themes during discussions between the Republican leadership and others, including a United States Congressman (Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)) and staff. State leaders viewed race as a proxy for party, leading to redistricting decisions and movements of population based solely on the basis of race.”
While it’s true that half the states are fighting over redistricting, resulting in multiple lawsuits filed pitting political parties against one another, the evidence against Perry showing his complicity in diluting the voting strength of Texas Latino voters takes it to a new level.
No amount of Texas swagger can hide the fact that Perry and his party fear Latino voters.
It makes you wonder why he supports in-state tuition for undocumented students.
Maybe because he thinks they’ll never be able to vote?
