Rudy Giuliani’s decision to spend Thursday, the day of the Iowa caucuses, in Florida has drawn plenty of analysis. Less discussed, though, is where exactly the former mayor will be in Florida and why. Namely, he will be in the heavily Cuban-American city of Hialeah attending an event at Milander Auditorium. And as explained here, Cuban-Americans make up between eight and ten percent of the likely Florida Republican primary vote.
Archive for December, 2007
Rudy Giuliani in Hialeah
December 31, 2007Villaraigosa Iowa Interview
December 31, 2007Early Sunday evening, CandidatoUSA interviewed Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who was en route from Marshalltown, Iowa to Ames, Iowa. The mayor was in Iowa campaigning on behalf of Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy and speaking at events that are attended by as little as “ten, fifteen, twenty” people to as many as “sixty or more”, which is less than the capacity on an LAUSD school bus. That doesn’t sound like a lot of people and objectively it ain’t. But, for Iowa a turnout of a dozen people at an event by a campaign surrogate is considered respectable. Below is an edited and partial transcript of the interview:
What do folks ask you after you make your opening remarks at these events?
I always begin with a question that I ask rhetorically. What is the mayor of Los Angeles doing here a few days before New Year’s in the dead of winter in Iowa. And I say that I am here because this is the most important election in my lifetime. An election that goes to the heart of what really matters to most Americans and that is extricating ourselves from war, investing and restoring strength in the middle class, providing universal health care for uninsured Americans and investing in the fight against global warming.
And what I also say is that this the deepest and most talented Democratic field since I’ve been voting in 1971, my first Presidential election in 1972. I can’t remember a field this deep at least since 1968 when Bobby Kennedy and McCarthy were running. Although this is a deep, talented field I believe that Senator Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience that we need right now in the country to take on the tough challenges that we face as a nation.
You mentioned Muscatine and Marshalltown, a lot of these places have seen a sharp influx of Latino immigrants in the last 15 years. Do Latino voters attend these events? Do they ask about immigration?
Yes, there have been a number of Latinos. Particularly, Americans of Mexican descent and others who have come. I’ve met with a broad section of Iowans.
Does the topic of immigration come up?
Yes, the issue of immigration has come up in almost every event that I’ve been to here in Iowa. That is true of Nevada, as well, when I’ve campaigned for Senator Clinton. It is a very significant issue and a challenge that we face in the United States. Senator Clinton has the wherewithal to help, craft and enact a fair and just immigration reform plan that is founded on the principles that this great country was built on. The principles of embracing new Americans but also fortifying our borders, collaborating with our neighbors, providing employer sanctions but very importantly also providing a pathway to citizenship to those immigrants that play by the rules, pay their taxes and want to be part of the American dream.
You mentioned your time in Nevada. Why not spend that time trying to drum up votes for Clinton in California?
First of all, make no mistake, I spend the vast majority of my time in Los Angeles and in California. I can tell you that wherever I go, I talk about Hillary Clinton’s strength, her experience, her leadership and her candidacy. The eyes of the nation, of the world are focused on Iowa right now. When called upon, I’ve answered. By the way, I am in the thick fog on my way to Ames because as I said this is the most imp election in my lifetime.
What will you be doing on behalf of the campaign ahead of the February 5 primary in California?
Well, I’ll return to LA tomorrow afternoon. I’ll spend the first of January there. I’ll announce historic new crime figures in Los Angeles, that we’ve reduced crime to historic levels. And then I’ll return to Iowa for the election. Go back to Los Angeles. I’ll be in Nevada a good part of my time until those elections. And then back to Los Angeles and wherever else in California or anywhere else that the campaign needs me.
Why not start the electoral process in a big, racially and ethnically diverse state like California?
That’s a great question, a question that many Californians have asked for a long time. But, the fact of the matter is that at this time, these elections at this time begin in Iowa, go to New Hampshire and South Carolina, Nevada and then on February 5 to California. Given the rules of the game as they exist today, I am here in Iowa.
I think this election is too important to stay on the sidelines, to not get involved. I have said too many that I am here today because there is a Civil Rights Act and a Voting Rights Act that opened up the country to me. America has been good to me. And the American Dream is a dream that needs to be a dream that everyone of us can aspire to.
I am excited to be here in the dead of fog as we’re driving down this lonely highway in an effort to really get out the vote in support of change, of a new direction for America and of the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.
Q&A with the Mayor of Columbus Junction, Iowa
December 31, 2007
Immigration has been a heated topic of interest among Republican voters in the lead-up to this week’s Iowa caucus. Dozens of towns statewide have been re-shaped by a dramatic influx of Hispanic immigrants over the last fifteen years, many of them drawn by work opportunities in the agricultural sector.
Columbus Junction is as good an example as any of this phenomenon. The re-opening of a local meatpacking plant in 1986 brought with it a steady increase in the local Latino population. In 1990, the Census Bureau reported 14.5 percent of the local population was Hispanic. By 2000, the figure had risen to 39 percent. Mayor Dan Wilson estimates that figure has now risen to roughly half of the town’s population of some 2500 people.
Much of the national media coverage has focused on those Iowans who are angry about the changes wrought by immigration. That isn’t true of Mayor Wilson.
Read more …
2007 in Latino Politics
December 31, 2007Plenty of Swing, Not Enough Power
Cover Latino politics long enough and you hear the phrase “sleeping giant” or an equivalent over and over again.
On August 29, 1982 in an article headlined “Hispanic-Voting Study Finds ‘Sleeping Giant’” the New York Times reported, “A new study finds immense unused voting power in the growing Latino population.”
Hispanic political clout has been just around the corner ever since.
Hello world!
December 30, 2007Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!
NYT Analysis of Presidential Campaign Ads
December 28, 2007This item is from our Daily Update, which you can read in its entirety here.
Ad Watch
The New York Times today published an analysis of terms that appear frequently in campaign advertising by the various presidential candidates. A review of that data shows frequent mentions of immigration and related terms by four Republican candidates. In contrast, Congressman Ron Paul, Senator John McCain and all of the Democratic candidates made few, if any, mentions of the topic in their advertising, according to the same data.
Giuliani
Total number of ads – 2,676
Total mentions of the word “English” – 1,368
Total mentions of the word “Immigration” – 912
Huckabee
Total number of ads – 1985
Total mentions of the word “Amnesty” – 426
Total mentions of the word “Border – 1065
Romney
Total number of ads – 24, 189
Total mentions of the word “Borders” – 3,654
Total mentions of the word “Illegal” – 12,169
Total mentions of the word “Immigration” – 11,871
Thompson
Total Ads – 1,964
Total mentions of the word “Amnesty” – 636
Total mentions of the word “Borders” – 1,068
Total mentions of the word “Illegal” – 636
Total mentions of the word “Immigration” – 636
Op Ed by Mickey Ibarra
December 28, 2007Immigration: The New Gay Marriage/Willie Horton/Welfare Queen
By Mickey Ibarra
Each presidential election cycle, an issue seems to come along that turns reasoned politicians into chest thumping demagogues. In 2004, the issue was gay marriage; this election season that issue will undoubtedly be immigration reform. Last June, a bipartisan compromise bill was crafted that focused on enhanced enforcement and earned legalization. A reasonable approach that would have quieted a growing national debate, the legislation fell victim to presidential politics as the Republican candidates trumped each other in their zest to crack down on illegal immigrants.
Hispanics in the Nevada Caucus
December 28, 2007Hispanic Voter Bingo in Nevada Caucus
A soccer team, a radio show, mock caucuses. These are just a few of the tactics that political parties are using to woo what’s become a crucial voter segment in Nevada elections this year – the Latino vote.
With the state’s first caucus rapidly approaching on January 19, Democrats and Republicans are battling to land Hispanics in their camp. “The Democrats have made a better play for it,” says Eric Herzik, political scientist at the University of Nevada at Reno. “The Republicans have focused their effort on the general election.”
Both sides know the stakes are rich. Hispanics now comprise almost a quarter of the Silver State’s population and 13 percent of its electorate – numbers that are likely to keep increasing as the November elections near.
Polls Show Latino Support for Hillary
December 27, 2007Barack Obama and John Edwards have narrowed the gap in popularity with Hillary Clinton when it comes to the overall population in key primary states as well as nationwide. However, when it comes to Latino voters both men are way, way behind the junior Senator from New York.
Latinos Love Hillary & Spurn Barack. Affair With Rudy Wanes
Much of this past week’s media coverage understandably focused on how Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are neck-and-neck in Iowa and New Hampshire. But, a few polls released during the week make clear that Clinton is poised to trounce Obama among Latino voters in California and Florida.
A Friday SurveyUSA poll of likely Florida Democratic Primary voters found 53 percent of Hispanics support Clinton. Obama has the support of 21 percent, while Edwards has 19 percent. This past Wednesday’s Field Poll of likely California Democratic Primary voters found she enjoys almost a 2 to 1 lead among Latino voters.
This on top of last week’s Avanze/ImpreMedia poll that found Clinton enjoyed a 9 to 1 lead over Obama in the key states of California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas.
Latino Evangelical Politics
December 26, 2007We have been consistent about covering the political preferences of Latino Evangelicals. Our latest entry, from this past Monday’s newsletter, is Voting With Your Soul, which specifically focuses on Florida:
This past summer Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean declared, “Contrary to partisan rhetoric, the truth is that Democrats are people of strong faith and we are guided by our values.” He launched a “faith outreach intitiative” to “reach out to diverse members of the faith community to build coalitions around shared priorities.”
Among those members was Luis Cortés, a Philadelphia-based minister and former George W. Bush supporter who is now on the DNC’s Faith Advisory Council. Last week Cortés predicted that many Latino evangelicals who voted for Bush in 2004 will abandon the Republican Party in 2008 and vote Democrat.
“We’re really saying with a straight face that Democrats have figured out some kind of way to go after Hispanic evangelicals?” asks Jeffrey García, a Miami-based Democratic strategist. “I think it would be more useful to go after hermaphroditic evangelicals. With all due respect to hermaphrodites.”
Previously, we took a big-picture look at political challenges faced by Latino evangelicals nationwide.
For Dios, But For Which Candidate?
Caught in the crosshairs of their double-barreled identity, Latino evangelicals are having a hard time finding a candidate to back in 2008.
Like their mainstream evangelical peers, the group’s advocacy of conservative stances on social issues has traditionally allied them with the Republican Party. But this year, the hard-line anti-immigration position taken by some leading Republicans has soured Hispanic evangelicals on the GOP.
“The Republicans have put us in a very difficult spot,” says Reverend Miguel Rivera, president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, which represents some 3 million Latino evangelicals. “We are ashamed of our party.”
That’s quite a turnaround. For the past eight years, the Republicans have enjoyed the embrace of Latino evangelicals largely through the personal appeal of George W. Bush. Bush made it a point to address Latino evangelicals directly through Spanish-sprinkled speeches at National Hispanic Prayer Breakfasts.
We also feature an op ed on the topic by José Cruz, a Democratic political consultant who is also an associate pastor:
Hispanic “Faith-based” Voters Are The Real Swing Vote
After years of being courted by the GOP, one crucial demographic of the “faith-based” community may be the determining vote of the 2008 elections. Hispanic evangelicals might shift to the Democrats or simply abstain. Either way, the impact will be significant.
“Center stage for the Hispanic faith-based community in the 2008 election is the family values issue of family reunification which is the immigration issue” says Reverend Luis Cortés, president of Esperanza USA a network of 10,000 evangelical churches. Cortés says “The vast majority of people come here because there are jobs available that they need to do in order to help their own family survive. That’s a faith issue.”
For over two decades “faith-based” voters have been a pillar of the Republican Party and Hispanic evangelicals have by and large found a home within this political movement. They represent a small but rapidly growing percentage of the overall “faith-based” electorate, yet they can have a critical impact in the ‘08 election.
And lastly, here is a piece we did about the immigration political activism of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States:
Hispanic Voter Outreach From On High
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony on Sunday led the 76th annual procession in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe through the streets of East Los Angeles. The theme of this year’s mile-long parade: Mother without Borders: Bringing Down the Walls of Injustice.
It’s no surprise the Los Angeles Archdiocese picked immigration as the theme of the procession.
Over the past year, Archbishop Mahony has emerged nationally as an outspoken advocate of immigration reform. And what he says carries weight. He heads the country’s largest archdiocese, comprising five million souls, more than half of whom are Hispanic.
Last year, he urged his flock to disobey the harsh immigration reform bill if it passed and was instrumental in getting thousands to turn out for massive protest rallies. “He had a galvanizing effect on the opposition to that bill,” notes Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
