LatinaLista — The 2008 Presidential race has officially begun.
There was no clearer indication of this than in last night’s CNN-sponsored televised debate among the 8 declared Democratic hopefuls running for the Presidency.
Tomorrow night, it will be the Republican candidates’ turns.
In the meantime, the inevitable push to “get out the Hispanic vote” has begun in full force as well. But it’s almost laughable to hear Republican party leaders say they want the Hispanic vote when just a quick look at the roster of declared candidates already reveals this party is out of touch with reality on several fronts .
Looking at the Democratic line-up, no one can argue that it is refreshing to see a selection of candidates that do reflect our society: a woman, a Latino, an African-American, married, unmarried, a mix of relatively young, and older candidates.
The Republican roster of candidates are mostly late middle-age to older white men.
If this was the cast of a television sitcom, there would be plenty of protests calling for program diversity.
And it’s always struck me odd that a party, that on the one hand, says they are united and that they respect Latinos and want us to feel a part of their party, has subsidiary organizations that still advocate such divisive rhetoric as: “Keep the Heat on the Senate! No Amnesty! Close the borders!”
Yet, maybe it’s not so surprising when we hear stories of Republican justice officials trying to defraud minority voters.
On June 13, 2007 Justice official Hans von Spakovsky, will appear before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee to defend accusations that he was a “key player in a Republican campaign to hang on to power in Washington by suppressing the votes of minority voters.”
Hans von Spakovsky
In the 21st Century, in this country, there should be no place for stories like these, nor even a hint of stories that would suggest that one party doesn’t value all members of society.
To me, it sounds like political suicide.
But for that to be the case, people of color need to be listening — not to the debates between Republican and Democrats, but to the arguments that are taking place between same-party members.
Something tells me that those debates are far more revealing.
Comment(3)
yave begnet
Publius’s analysis at Obsidian Wings on this seems sound:
[P]olitically speaking, I predict that the Great Compromise will (rather ironically) cause the GOP to lose Latinos for a generation. That may seem strange given that one main reason why the White House and certain GOP Senators supported the immigration deal is because they can read the demographic trend lines on the “Latino Voting Population†chart, particularly in emerging swing areas like the Southwest (and, one day, Texas).
The problem though is that whatever political support the GOP might win will be more than offset by the hysterical, race-based backlash that will erupt from its nativist, Dobbs/Kaus/Buchanan wing.
. . .
This is a Category 5 Hurricane coming people. It’s going to be ugly, it’s going to get racist, and it’s going to be coming almost exclusively from the GOP, the GOP presidential candidates, and Mickey Kaus. In fact, in a perverse race to the bottom, the GOP presidential candidates (excluding McCain, who finds himself in an extraordinarily tough spot here) will be falling over themselves to out-amnesty the other. Latinos will notice.
The Republican leadership can read the writing on the wall if they lose the Latino vote like they lost the black vote–also business is pushing hard for comprehensive reform. It seems like a no-brainer–support comprehensive reform–until the leadership realized that the base was screaming the opposite in their ears. Now they are screwed and there’s nothing they can do about it. Republican politicians may end up pushing through CIR and getting absolutely none of the political credit for the largest legalization in a generation because of the ravings of the base.
Antonio Gonzalez
What election ? Everitghing
is only a show.
memo
JUST A THOUGHT
Several decades ago, immigrants from Hispanic origin came to the USA. They didn’t bother to participate in politics. They came to work and nothing else. Why to bother if the country was going OK. They didn’t speak the language very well and they thought let’s leave politics in the hands of those who are in power. Working and keeping a job was their main goal. Many even didn’t bother to change their immigrant status as residents.
But a couple of years ago, particularly this year, something happened. Because they can not be recognized or distinguished by appearance, with the so called illegals, they started to realize that they had to become citizens to obtain a higher level of protection. They realized that they were being demonized.
Some of this population belongs to the group that came with the amnesty offered by President Reagan in 1986-1988. They too started to become citizens. There is no way that anyone can identify an illegal alien just by looking at them. They could be legally here; they could have lived in the U.S. for generations.
The rampant xenophobia encased in fear of terrorism has made it critical for the legal immigrants, once illegal, to acquire the status that would grant them immunity from narrow legal persecution. However, it is not strange that in this xenophobic wave these people are feeling being threatened and insulted..
In the meantime, the Republicans had their chance for about 6 years to make a statement that the republican party would take care of the American people and they really showed they don’t care by their non-actions and clearly directed actions against inmigrants.
It is true that some Democrats such as Jim Webb, Jon Tester and Claire McCaskill vote with the majority of Republicans to kill the Senate immigration compromise, without offering a realistic and achievable alternative that would establish a more humane policy.
But, it is also undeniable that the most vicious, the most wretched, the most offensive, the most revolting, the most ruthless, the most vilifying, the most repulsive attacks have come and are still coming from Republicans.
Just a few examples to illustrate it.
1) Sensebrenner wanted the criminalization of these people.
2) Newt Gingrich, Former House speaker, who coined Spanish as the Language of the gheto
3) Fred Thompson just slammed Cubans, suggesting that they come to America not in search of freedom, but to bring “suitcase bombs.â€
4) Tancredo, no comments
5) J.D Hayworth, not reelected, but still instilling hate, same no comments.
There are more cases. The list goes on.
One thing is certain, the Republicans were mum on all issues with immigration reform as just one of them. They controlled the white house and congress. If there is anytime in which a party is able to get things done, it’s when they don’t have anyone to really interfere.
Immigration was just one of them.
Therefore, it seems to me that the most recalcitrant and extreme positions are from Republicans where no room is for middle ground.
So Republicans have done this at a national level. Pretty transparent move they did, and now the immigrant population, particularly the Hispanic immigrants are aware of this issue.
At any rate, this is the beginning of the legal immigrant backlash directed against the Republican Party for their position on the immigration bill.
By your actions, you shall be judged.!
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