Latino Vote at Brave New Films

McCain's Embarrassing Ad for the Latino Vote

2008-08-12T22:45:49Z

Immigrant Scapegoating - Definately Not an Election Winner

2008-06-11T21:44:14Z

George Bush made a 10% gain in Hispanic voters during his re-election bid in 2004; it is more than likely that the gain would reverse itself into a loss for Republicans come this November.

This time around, pledging to step up immigrant crackdowns throughout the year, the Bush Administration is risking a political fallout with Hispanic voters. The lame-duck President has nothing to lose but it doesn't bode well for the non-teflon Republican Party and John McCain's bid for Presidency.

Regardless of the fact that immigration enforcers claim to be anti-(illegal) immigration and not immigration per se, ICE actions and political rhetoric is nonetheless perceived as just anti-immigrant. And perfectly legal immigrants are being harmed in this so-called anti-(illegal) immigrant climate. Take a look at the Congress economic stimulus package to disallow tax rebates to undocumented workers; it ended up affecting many legal residents who filed joint tax returns with their spouses without social security numbers. In counties like Prince Williams that are now policing immigration, even legal immigrants who perceive hatred and hostility are moving and taking their businesses elsewhere.

The Latino vote is crucial, especially in swing states like Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado. Fostering a climate that is heavily perceived as anti-immigrant would undoubtedly turn-off many Hispanic voters, who are the majority of the minority ethnic population and feel targeted due to increased crackdowns and legislation.

Latin Pulse - U.S. Presidential Elections & the Latino Vote

2008-06-14T21:31:23Z

For more: linktv.org
(April 21, 2008) The November election for president of the United States is fast approaching and never before has the Hispanic vote carried so much weight. With the race so tight, the three leading candidates are going after what may be the tie-breaker - the Latino vote. That group may determine who moves into the White House next winter. Will this translate into true political strength or remain just another political promise?
En Español:
EEUU Elecciones Presidenciales y el voto de los Latinos.
Las elecciones para la presidencia de los EEUU se acercan, y jamás el voto hispano había tenido tanto peso en las elecciones en el país.
Con la tan cerrada competencia, los tres candidatos están tras lo que parece ser el desempate, el voto de los Latinos.
¿Se traducirá este hecho en una real fuerza política o se quedará en una promesa política más?

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Richardson endorses Obama

2008-06-18T09:30:58Z

Mar. 21 - New Mexico Governor and former Democratic candidate Bill Richardson has endorsed Senator Barack Obama. Richardson, a former democratic candidate himself, served as energy secretary and U.N. ambassador in Former President Bill Clinton's administration. His support has the potential to give the Illinois senator a boost among Hispanic voters. The endorsement is also a blow to rival Hillary Clinton - who is seen as influential within the Latino community. Lindsay Claiborn reports.

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Oye Como Va...another Obama video reaches out to Latinos

2008-06-11T15:32:23Z

So I came across this video recently that is very clearly targeted to the Latino audience.

Years ago, I would've stepped back and possibly tried to preach the virtues of intellectual debate, higher education, etc. but the energy around the current Presidential race has caused me to rethink my previous position.

From an informed Latino, "InformedLatino", re: Barack Obama, African Americans and Latinos

2008-02-18T11:11:26Z

A wonderful comment on my earlier post, that will educate and enlighten. Thank you, InformedLatino, for these insights:

Viva George Lopez, you did the right thing. I am amazed at the extent to which some Latinos display their ignorance about black people. Lest we forget that black people played a major role in shaping the Latino culture and defining who we are as people. The Latino dance (salsa, merengue etc), music and musical instruments are African in their origin. They were brought to the SA continent by African Slaves and their descendants.
I am so fed up with all the "Latino don’t like black people" talk played by the media and some ignorant Latinos in this election. A large chunk of Latinos are descendants of African slaves. The Latino community in general is not monolithic, but racially diverse. We have Latinos of African, European, Asian and Native Indian descents.
Ex-President Fujimore of Chile is a good example of a Latino of Asian descent. President Chavez of Venezuela and Lula of Brazil were born to a family of African, Native American and European stock. However, they were certainly not among the first or the most famous Latinos of African Origin. That honor belongs to Mexico's Vicente Guerrero. Vicente Guerrero was a towering figure in the Americas, masterfully commanding Mexico's liberation army during much of its independence movement, and later assuming his country's presidency (on April 1st, 1819) where he fought off foreign invaders.
Those Latinos who won’t vote for Obama or a black candidate simply for being black are ignorant fools who need some lessons in Latino history.

Latinos and Obama - it's not a black thing

2008-06-11T15:36:45Z

In a recent LA Times article, the author asserts that racism per se, is not what is shaping the Latino vote preference; it’s a 16 year head start. I agree. Sort of.

You can read the full article here: www.latimes.com

The cynic in me says this is true and like development throughout Latin America, it’s just plain silly to expect anyone to catch up. I mean, does anyone really think that introducing some new and improved marketplace infrastructure is really going to level the playing field in Latin America? Likewise, does anyone really think that Obama’s campaign headquarters can come up with anything that will battle 16 years of life in the public eye or, um, 16 years of political experience?

Does Hillary have the Latina vote in the bag?

2008-06-11T15:36:33Z

I recently came across this video called, "Oye Hillary." As the title implies, this video is clearly targeting the Latino vote. With all the fuss about this new-fangled thing we're calling the *Latino vote,* some of us are sitting here wondering, "huh...how did she pull it off? How did she get more Latino votes than Obama? Is it a race thing? Or is it a female thing?" So now I sit here wondering, does Hillary have the Latina vote in the bag? And if she does, does that mean she's got the Latino (male) vote as well? Unless the Obama campaign steps it up, perhaps so.

Mr. Obama? Latinos knocking? Anyone Home?

2008-02-14T12:54:13Z

Let me preface this entire post by saying I am aware that what I am about to write is going to come across to many as arrogant. I apologize in advance for that, and if it is any consolation, I went back and forth about writing it at all.

That said, I want to talk a bit about my own personal experience in trying to help Barack Obama with Latino - and specifically Latina - voters, the very voters many news stories lately have said made a big impact on helping Hillary Clinton win the California primary and other important Latino blocks.

After watching the Clinton campaign kick Obama's ass in outreach to Latinos in general - albeit misguidedly and almost entirely in Spanish, in spite of the fact that most Latino voters in the US speak only or mostly English - I decided to try to help Obama reach "us" too. (Did you notice that every six seconds Univision seemed to be airing that annoying "Estamos Con Hillary" commercial?)

I wrote an email to Obama's "people," the ones responsible for his Latino outreach, and told them about myself. That I'd sold more than half a million books, mostly to Latinas, and was a NY Times bestseller, USA Today bestseller, and BookSense pick. That I had an online reader "fan club" of more than 600 members, coast to coast, almost all Latinas, many of whom were willing to put their names on a national endorsement of Obama, from "the nation's largest Latina book and networking club." That I was named one of Time magazine's 25 "most influential Hispanics" in America. That I was the only writer to get an award from the Hispanic Congressional Caucus. That I was one of a small handful of Latina TV and movie producers on the rise. That I had name-recognition and influence in New Mexico and Arizona, two of the states where Latino votes really mattered. "Use me any way you can," I said.

The response was tepid, at best. The woman wrote back to ask me to volunteer at the local Phoenix office, doing phone banking. At first I thought it was a joke. After all, Toni Morrison's endorsement of Obama was being trumpeted far and wide in press releases by his team. Now, I am not - repeat NOT - comparing myself in quality or skill or fame to Toni Morrison. But I do think that among Latina writers in the United States, I am at the top of the short list of those of us who have any "fame" at all.

Funnily enough, the Clinton Latino outreach people contacted me earlier in the campaign, to ask if I'd endorse her. They invited me to events. They called just to chat. They flattered me and were very cool. That said, I could not endorse her. But the difference in approach between the two camps, toward me alone, was astonishing.

Time magazine did a list of the most influential Evangelicals in the country, round about the same time it did the influential Hispanics list. I had to wonder, if one of the evangelists from that list had reached out to, say, Mike Huckabee, or Mitt Romney, and said, "I've got followers, let me led them to you," whether their campaigns would have responded with a generic email suggesting the evangelist drive down to Nashville to volunteer in phone banks. Methinks not.

I have to wonder: Is Obama's campaign's apparent disinterest in Latinos accidental? An oversight? Is it part of the same lack of awareness of our numbers and importance that prompted progressive talk-show host Randi Rhodes yesterday to say something idiotic, like "the Latino vote? Who cares? Let's talk about the Eskimo vote. How 'bout that?" Do these people really not understand that 40 million is a large number of people?

Or is it worse than that? Is Obama's apparent lack of interest in us intentional? Is it part of a strategy to "unite" all of us, that whitewashes everyone? I tend to think that's it. That, in an effort to appear united as Americans only, in an effort to appear race-free, the Obama campaign has chosen NOT to highlight ethnicity or race in any way, for anyone, lest such actions make Obama seem "blacker" than he already is, to white voters on the fence.

While this strategy might make sense for reaching racist "white" voters, it is backfiring among some Latino voters, who simply don't know who this man is because he's not made any real effort to tell them.

I ask: Can only white candidates afford to be seen as reaching out to minorities? Is it too risky, politically, for a minority candidate to be seen as forging ties to minorities who are proud of being Americans, yes, but different kinds of Americans? The Obama campaign squandered a terrific opportunity not only to reach out to Latinos, but to educate and forge bridges between the African American and Latino communities that share so much (including DNA) but have been misled by the US media to think we have nothing in common.

I still think Obama would be a good president. And hundreds of my "fans" have written to say they'd join me in doing some kind of outreach.

It's just too damn bad the Obama camp could care less. And it's not just about me that they don't care. Time and again, from coast to coast, I've heard similar stories of prominent Latinos, be they politicians, artists or musicians, who have reached out to the Obama camp, only to be ignored, or slapped away.

Many of us noticed long ago that Oprah rarely had Latinos on her show. We wondered if there was a reason for that. If maybe the propaganda intended to divide and conquer had gotten to her, and she, like many other non-Latino blacks, had come to view "us" as a threat rather than as allies.

And now, I really want to ask Mr. Obama: Et tu, Brute?

What gives?

What are Latinos looking for? (1 of 2)

2008-06-16T03:32:15Z

More at therealnews.com
Pilar Marrero on the complex politics of the Latino vote (1 of 2)

Wednesday February 6th, 2008

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What are Latinos looking for? (2 of 2)

2008-06-16T03:32:13Z

More at therealnews.com
Pilar Marrero on the complex politics of the Latino vote

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TYT Calls It - McCain Wins Florida

2008-06-12T03:30:02Z

Watch the show interview at www.theyoungturks.com

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Courting the US Latino vote - July 24 07

2008-06-06T03:30:39Z

In a series examining how candidates in next year's US presidential elections, Al Jazeera looks at the concerns of the huge Latino community in the US.

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Walking with SOL

2008-06-12T03:32:57Z

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