Hype Vs. Reality: The GOP Hispanic Vote

All of us in the Hispanic Republican world are trying to figure out what are the long term implications the immigration debate will have on Hispanic American voters.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in the last major election, 2004, Hispanics made up 14 percent of the U.S. population and 8 percent of registered voters, but only 6 percent of voters on Election Day.

Documentary film maker Neil H. Simon asks

"For all the hype around Hispanic voters, with the Democrats rearranging their calendar to put Hispanic-heavy Nevada right after the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, and Florida intending to hold its primary Jan. 29, Hispanics still have to meet the campaigns halfway to dispel any doubts about their growing clout. "

Then you have extreme right talk show host Rush Limbaugh who says Hispanics were never GOP voters.:

"How can we lose voters we never had? How can the Republican Party lose voters? This is a big myth, and the myth is being spread. It's designed to frighten you, but more than that, it's designed to frighten Republican elected officials so that when this comes up again -- and it will somewhere down the road -- that they do something about it, because the Democrats still don't benefit from this."

Limbaugh, and conservative talk radio, who are being blamed for the demise of the immigration bill, are trying to say that Hispanics will never be part of the GOP base.

Many of us in the Latino GOP know that Hispanics are Republicans, they just don't know it yet, as stated by Regan in 1979. Issues such as "traditional marriage, tax breaks for families and small business, school choice, military preparedness, the right to life, personal savings accounts, and faith-based social-service programs" all resonate with the Latino community. The GOP must continue focusing on its agenda and get the message out and prove the nay-sayers wrong.

History has taught us that if you target Hispanic constituencies and talk about the Republican platform, monumental gains are made. Read a little Richard Nadler for some historic perspective.

Arnold says "English Only'?

Recently California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has come under mixed reaction from the Hispanic community. Speaking in front of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists annual conference in San Jose, the governor of California offered his own advice on how Latino students might improve their test scores, "You've got to turn off the Spanish television set," stated Schwarzenegger.

He suggested that Hispanic immigrants should stop watching Spanish language media and immerse themselves in English, just as he did when he arrived in the United States from Austria almost 40 years ago.

Full story at: http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/239902.html