This is a busy month for many Hispanic advocates (many from the other side) NCLR (aka La Raza) is having their convention in Miami, Florida and LULAC will be having their convention in Chicago, IL later this month.
Tuesday in Miami, Janet Murguía, NCLR's President, announced the launching of Ya Es Hora ¡Ciudadanía! (Now is the time, citizenship) campaign at a news conference in downtown Miami's Freedom Tower. The program has several sponsors, including Univision, the Spanish Language Network. NCLR hopes to register 6 million new Hispanic voters in time for the primary and elections.
According the the Palm Beach Post:
"If we learned anything from the recent immigration reform debate, we need to show our political muscle," Murguía said.
The voter drive focuses on 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas.
More bad news from the Hispanic friendly Senator from Arizona. According to CNN the campaign will have to let go about 10 more senior staffers.
Though things seem bleak I wouldn't count him out just yet. .. Look at Dean, at one point the shinning star of the party, in a brief second it was all pulled away..... but the reality is it will be almost impossible for him to raise money
Campaign spokesperson Danny Diaz expressed confidence that today's shakeup will not affect outside the beltway voters. Diaz: "Senator McCain is the most prepared and best equipped candidate to move the country forward. He will continue to address the important issues confronting the American people and lay out a plan for keeping America safe and prosperous."
The Republican National Hispanic Assembly's convention is only days away. As of today, two GOP presidential candidates have confirmed their attendance with three more likely on the way.
If all goes as planned the RNHA National Convention will be the Hispanic Event with the most GOP candidates.
Thousands of legal immigrants are becoming American citizens. According to new reports, there has been an increase of about 80% from last year. Many immigrants say they are finally doing the step because of the immigration debate.
Telling the New York Times, Angel Ivan Alvarez, a 24-year-old legal immigrant from Mexico stated:
“I realized that I want to be able to vote and speak up for my people because they are not getting enough support. I want everybody to be able to come out of the shadows.” said Alvarez.
There has been a national push by Spanish media to get legal residents to become citizens, including Univision. In addition many legal immigrants were motivated by the new increase in fees, trying to become a citizen before a 69% increase in price.
Currently the RNHA of Washington State holds citizenship classes to help legal immigrants become US citizens.
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.
Effort Will Help Expand Outreach To Hispanic Voters
Hillary Clinton's campaign is making history today by launching a bilingual social networking page expanding on its efforts to reach Hispanic voters across the nation. The new website hosted by the online community MyGrito.com builds on the campaign's efforts to engage these important voters and find new ways to continue her conversation with Americans throughout the country.
Clinton 's bilingual social networking effort is focused on maximizing her outreach to communicate directly with supporters by providing regular campaign updates, including information about the campaign activities and photos and video from events.
"Latino voters will play a key role in this election and my campaign is committed to reaching them in innovative ways," Clinton said. "This is an exciting initiative that will help us expand our outreach efforts."
To visit Hillary Clinton's website on MyGrito.com go to:
The GOP moved up the Nevada primary to January to compete with the Democrats and show the party's strength in the West. The problem is they have NOTHING else then moving the date. According to a recent AP article, GOP Presidential hopefuls are almost non-existent in the state... A sobering reality for the thousands of Hispanic Republican grassroots activists in the West.... The article states:
One reason is that Nevada Democrats, who made the first move to the January date last summer, have aggressively promoted the contest, billing the caucus as a test of their candidates' viability in the West and using it to highlight the strength of labor and an emerging Hispanic vote. The party adopted the slogan "Winning the West," hired a team of media consultants and held an early televised candidate forums to christen the new caucus.
The Nevada GOP, meanwhile, hasn't issued a single news release mentioning its contest since the vote was made official April 1. A "Campaign 08 Calendar" on the party's Web site lists no events. A GOP straw poll held in the state capital two weeks ago went undetected, not just by most media outlets in the state, but also by the candidates' nascent Nevada operations.
Presidential politicking may be going full throttle in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, but Nevada's Republican territory is a virtual campaign-free zone.
Senator John McCain, who all thought would be the clear heir to the GOP Presidential thrown, is in big trouble. Reports state that he has to reduce his staff, those that stay on are getting a pay cut and he only has $2 million cash on hand.
McCain's Campaign Manager, Terry Nelson stated the campaign would refocus its efforts, and target primary states first (where everything is cheaper) and try to gain momentum that way.
It's unfortunate that his American hero, and a man with real principle, is having such a hard time running for President. We should point out that this time in the last election cycle, Kerry was trailing horribly and he still won the party's nomination.
Others on the campaign trail are not having as many problems.
The poll, conducted by GOP consultant Tony Fabrizio 10 years after he conducted a similar study, also casts some doubts on the conventional wisdom about moral-issues voters, thought to be the key constituency for President Bush in 2004. It showed that the group hasn’t grown significantly in recent years and is surprisingly willing to vote for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani despite his differences with it on social and moral issues.
The survey of 2,000 self-described Republican voters, titled “The Elephant Looks in the Mirror 10 Years Later,” showed that 71 percent consider themselves conservative, a 16 percent increase over the 1997 numbers.
Fifty-one percent of the GOPers said universal healthcare coverage should be a right of every American, and 49 percent favored allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.
Those two issues continue to divide the party, though, with more than 40 percent opposed to both. Fabrizio emphasized that “the devil is in the details” on healthcare, and that providing a plan that pleases the entire 51 percent would be difficult.
The article also discuss Senator McCain's results in the poll
From the politico Anti-immigration rhetoric will alienate GOP: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4476.html
Xenophobic rhetoric dividing Republicans
Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado even suggested that increased legal immigration brought into question "our willingness to actually hold together as a nation or split apart into a lot of balkanized pieces."
The exception was Sen. John McCain of Arizona, whose aggressive defense of the fragile compromise has brought him only grief from his party's conservative base. The plan is not perfect, he noted, but "it's our job to do the hard things" like compromise.
Misleading characterizations of the bill in the presidential contest -- and on conservative talk shows and the Internet -- complicated the debate. The presidential candidates "are not helping it," Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) protested, even as he worked to add more hurdles to obtaining visas. "This bill is not an amnesty bill. Unfortunately, we are behind the eight ball because there are a lot of our folks who are saying that. That's a huge problem."
All this belies the GOP's stated efforts to court support among the 11 million Latinos who are likely to be registered voters next year, especially in delegate-rich states like California, New York, Florida and Texas.
The Politico.com Breaking News: ---------------------------------------------------------
Republicans launch ad blitz aimed at vulnerable freshman Democrats, dipping into their own pockets because of campaign committee debt. NRCC aims to tie opponents to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, depicting her as an out-of-touch liberal. Campaign is modest in scope but ambitious in targeting Pelosi to try to knock out her supporters.
10 candidates, 90 minutes, 3 questioners... a recipe for some exciting television and that it was...
Eight months before the first ballot is cast, the GOP hopefuls battled it out on the second republican debate. This time around the tone harder and the attacks were flying.
Rudy Giuliani was the nights big winner showing all his strengths on national security and trying to prove his conservative credentials, not on social issues, but fiscal and security issues. His biggest shinning moment of the night came after a statement from Ron Paul insinuating that America invited the attacks of 9/11. Giuliani rose quickly to call out Ron Paul in a "no you didn't" moment, asking Congressman Paul how he dared make that sort of statement. Giuliani said, he had heard some extraordinary statements in his time but that was one of the most extraordinary thing he has ever heard. The viewers in the audience and those at home could see the resolve in Giuliani's face and how personal he took the issue. Giuliani received roaring applause from the audience and asked Ron Paul to apologize for his statement.
Giuliani also won by switching the debate in his favor, he tried to deflect his position on abortion as ask the public to see the big picture, if the Republicans loose, we get Hillary, and that is truly a scary America.
Senator John McCain did amazing will as well, proving himself as a constant leaders and American patriot. The Senator showed to be a proven national leader, someone who worked with both sides of the aisle to get results and even came off funny with his drunken sailor joke. (though he has given it a few times, much of America hadn't seen it yet.) McCain was able to attack his fellow top tier candidates, including Mitt Rommney for being a flip flopper on issues, saying he did not change his "position on even-numbered years" or "because of the different offices that I may be running for." McCain tried to strengthen the publics view of his conservative credentials talking about immigration, taxes and the war. The Senator started the night saying he would be the last man standing supporting the war.
This was not Gov. Mitt Rommney's debate. He won the first but fell flat this time around. He did get quite a few hard questions (5 I think). He had to defend his abortion position throughout the night and his conservative credentials. Rommney did give a few jabs himself, attacking McCain saying "McCain-Kennedy would do to immigration what McCain-Fiengold did to campaigns," yet McCain came back strong. Romney did win with his comments on keeping Gitmo open, which got huge applause from the crowd.
The debate was truly a battle of the big three with the rest of the field trying to show America they were the "real conservative" candidate. Tom Tancredo missed some opportunities. Gov. Jim Gilmore personally attacked some candidates, after the prodding of questioner Mike Wallace, but it was "ehh". Mike Huckabee came off funny, likable and defiantly stood out from the lower tier candidates, but wasn't the overall winner. (He had a very funny line about Edwards.) Ron Paul clearly was remembered by the end of the debate, but less for his positions, and more on his situation with Rudy Giuliani during the debate.
Early in the night Fox News was showing Ron Paul as the debates winner, which is ludicrous. Maybe it was joke, as Rudy was the nights real winner.
The political saints looking over the state of New York must be having a field day as another of the state's politicians is considering of throwing in his hat for the race to the White House.
New York City Mayor, Micheal Bloomberg, is getting ready to run as a third-party presidential candidate and is prepared to spend $1 BILLION of his own personal fortune of $5.5 billion.
"Bloomberg is H. Ross Perot on steroids," said former Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael Toner. "He could turn the political landscape of this election upside down, spend as much money as he wanted and proceed directly to the general election. He would have resources to hire an army of petition-gatherers in those states where thousands of petitions are required to qualify a third-party presidential candidate to be on the ballot."
Bloomberg is a social liberal and fiscal conservative, who has recently topped polls in New York with high numbers then Giuliani.
The Virginia Democratic Party Chair, Paul Gold Man, said:
"If the Republicans nominate someone the press can tag as a pro-war social conservative and the Democrats pick an anti-war liberal, Bloomberg will run up the center," Mr. Goldman said. "If conservatives don't rally to stop Giuliani they will get a third party socially conservative candidate who will only help elect the Democrat."
According to an article on AP writer and political pundit Bob Novak made at appearance at Grover Norquest's "Wednesday Meetings" at Americans For Tax Reform. Norquist stated that “All the stars are aligned against the Republicans in 2008.”
The Wednesday Meetings is an weekly gathering of DC and the nation's most influential conservatives. Novakweighed in on several Presidential Hopefuls:
Al Gore: “He likes being rich ... he likes being an Oscar-winner and I think he likes being fat, too.”
John McCain, at the recent GOP debate in California: “He didn’t look like a winner.”
Mitt Romney: In response to Romney’s performance at the recent GOP debate, Novak said some people told him that Romney “almost looked too perfect.”
Fred Thompson: Novak said that, apparently, people believe that Thompson “did such a good job as the district attorney of New York City that he deserves a chance to be president.”
Novack's new book entitled "The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years of Reporting in Washington" is scheduled for release in July.
According to to the Wall Street Journal, Univision has recently launched a citizenship campaign in key electoral states across the nation. The goal is to booster Hispanic participation in the upcoming 2008 elections. In 2004 47% of eligible Hispanic voters voted, compared to 67% of non-Hispanic white and 60% of African-Americans.
More than eight million green-card holders -- that is, legal permanent residents -- are eligible to become U.S. citizens, and the majority are immigrants of Latin American origin, according to U.S. government data. Now, Univision Communications Inc. is using its considerable clout with the Spanish-speaking community in the U.S. to turn this latent voting bloc into an active and potentially potent force.
The campaign could significantly effect the outcomes of many states and the political parties.
For instance, in the 2006 congressional contest, Republican candidates who take a harder line on illegal immigrants than their rivals garnered only 31% of the Latino vote.
The Hispanic vote is one of the most talked about issues in this election cycle. Especially as politicos finally grasp the power of the growing Hispanic population and the effects of immigration reform on the group.
In Nevada Hispanics make up nearly 25 % of state's population, yet they accounted for 13 % of the vote.
"Galvanizing the Hispanic vote may be more difficult than political leaders realize, some Hispanic community leaders said.
"You have about 21 different cultures within the Hispanic community with different priorities and agendas," said Jesse Gutierrez, executive director of Nevada Hispanic Services and a registered Republican. "You have conservatives as well as extremely liberal.
"It is not a voting bloc unless it is a family-orientated issue."
In Colorado, the local RNHA Chair, Gil Cisneros, is making waves by some of his statements. In an editorial by the Rocky Mountain News they ask: Why won't Gil Cisneros just keep quiet?
Several Candidates are spending as much as $300,000 a month in hopes of courting certain groups such as Hispanics and Blacks. Many firms and consultants organize a range of items for candidates from creating a grass-roots organization to developing campaign strategy. Read More.
Many campaigns hire Coalitions Directors to deal with the dozens of specialized groups such as Catholics, Latinos, Gun Owners, Evangelicals, and much more.
In the Giuliani camp they recently hired Bob Holste to lead Team Rudy's Coalition efforts. Holste was the Chief of Staff job with Rep. Phil English (R-PA)
Tonight the Republican candidates for President are going to battle it out for who is the "RIGHT-ful" hire to Regan's Republican Party.... or something like that....
With the first GOP Presidential debate properly taking place at the Ronald Regan Library in California and Nancy Regan sitting front and center, as if overseeing the events in place of her husband, it should prove to be an interesting first glimpse of the candidates.
As we try to guess who will do what, here are some personal analysis: ALL of them are going to try to establish themselves as the ONLY person to continue the Regan legacy. (We wonder how many times will the candidates evoke Ronald Regan's name?) There will be little prise for Bush. Between the 10 candidates we have a huge diversifications of opinion from far right to right of center.
The Leaders: We are expecting the front runners -McCain, Giuliani, Romney - are going to keep it simple, try not to mess up and look VERY presidential. This philosophy was best stated by Mitt Romney last night on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno saying, "It's going to be very short. Get on, get off. Keep your hair from getting messed up." Romney has the most to gain from this debate. He has an opportunity to show the public why so many Washington insiders love him. McCain can win here by reminding people why they supported him in the past. (He is up in Iowa, NH and SC). Giuliani has the most to loose as he is up in the numbers and he can't messed up.
Stuck In The Middle/Underdogs: They are going to try to stand out and provide a few zingers to get a moment in the spotlight. Some of these candidates are gaining less then 1% of the vote in many national polls. In reality, many of these candidates won't be contenders in a few months, with the primaries moving earlier each day, this might be the only time these candidates will have a time to shine and try to garner support from the public.
One-Issue Candidates: These guys are not only underdogs but known for their "passion" on a one particular issue, we expect them to continue their platform while trying to spread their wings a little. Rep. Ron Paul is known for his ideology and feels the party has lost its way on its libertarian traditions. Rep. Tom Tancredo has gained national recognition for his strict position on immigration and his anti-immigration stands.
Looking for a "Gravel" Moment: Tancredo, Duncan Hunter or maybe Huckabee?
Missing In Action: Newt Gingrich hasn't declared and we don't know when he will. Senator Hagel had a press conference to confirm he was thinking about it, but we haven't the foggiest when we will decide. Former Senator and current actor Fred Thompson is expected to have a "roll out" in July. Fred Thompson has been coming high in the polls, sometimes as high as 3rd or 4th, amazing for a person who hasn't even announced.
A bigger question for us is, will the Hispanic Vote and Immigration reform come up in a debate in California? Will the example of Pete Wilson and his negative effects of the GOP in California come up? We hope so...
From the Hotline On Call they listed some things everyone should be looking for:
Comparisons between anti-communism and the war on terror (or the "war of terror").
Mitt Romney's mentions of "McCain-Kennedy" and "McCain-Feingold"
Mike Huckabee's attempt to distinguish himself as the "authentic conservative" in the field.
A debate about climate change, starring John McCain and Mitt Romney
Tepid praise for Pres. Bush
Standard Reaganesque themes: lower taxes, stronger national defense
Implicit criticism of the 109th Congress and its leaders
Denial: those Republicans who assert that '06 had little to do with the war
Praise for -- and criticism of -- Hillary Clinton. (a Chris Matthews obsession).
An unusual focus on religious conservatives in South Carolina
Let's make a prediction: no Mormon question. That'd be refreshing.
"Battlefield Earth" jokes.
Lots of Pelosi/Reid bashing.
Sentences beginning with "Ronald Reagan thought..." or "Ronald Reagan knew..."
Assertions that America is fundamentally conservative and wants its leaders to be fundamentally conservative.
Questions about Fred Thompson and his significance to the GOP field
Reminders about the "11th commandment" -- Reagan's suggestion that Republicans shalt not attack one another.
Tonight the Republicans get their turn to shine at the first Republican Presidential debate of the election 2008 season. With 10 Republicans and only 90 minutes, this is sure to be very interesting television. The debate is scheduled to begin at 8 PM Eastern at the Ronald Regan Presidential Library norht of Los Angeles co-sponsored by MSNBC and Politico.com.
Over the last few days many of the Republican front runners have kept their schedules light and stayed in California. The continuously met with aides and practiced every imaginable scenario as the candidates prepare for America's first glimpse of the possible future GOP candidate....
For a full list on the candidates on deck visit politico.com. Those who are missing from the top 10 are actor/former Senator Fred Thompson, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Senator Chuck Hagel, all who have not officially announced.
Former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani won the Latino Coalition Summit's straw poll on Wednesday earning over 64% of the vote.
Arizona Senator John McCain came in second with 15% of the vote followed by the not yet declared Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson with 8% of the vote.
Of the total 415 ballots casted over 58% were for Republicans. The Latino Coalition is a conservative Hispanic advocacy group.
Giuliani was the Latino Coalition's key note speaker.
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