by Anne Wakefield
¡Hoy marchamos!, the cry that held together the massive Hispanic rallies in 2006, has reached mañana votamos, its first big deadline on Super Tuesday. Among the 24 states conducting primaries and caucuses Feb 5 are Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and New Mexico, all with vast Hispanic populations that will likely vote against those candidates they perceive as anti-immigrant.
During the 2004 elections, George W. Bush won 40 percent of the Latino vote. But, as a nationwide survey by the Pew Hispanic Center revealed, Republicans have lost most of that support due to their hard stance on immigration. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson has suggested that this could ruin the party’s chances to retain the presidency in 2008 and beyond.
The Pew study shows some 57 percent of Hispanic registered voters now call themselves Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party, while just 23 porciento align with the Republican Party.
Of the GOP candidates, only U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona has been supportive of immigration reform with a path to legalization for some 12 million undocumented immigrants, although following a barrage of criticism from his party’s extreme right, he flip-flopped. He leads in most polls. McCain won back-to-back victories in the South Carolina and: Florida primaries.
An endorsement by Cuban-American Melquiades (Mel) Martínez of Florida, the GOP’s lone Hispanic in the U.S. Senate, was sought by all of the party’s candidates. After several clashes with Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney over their hard-line stances on immigration, Martinez finally announced his support for Mc Cain Jan. 25. AlsolntheMcCaln camp is Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Álvarez, a popular f gure in the Hispanic community. Polls show former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney running slightly ahead of McCain in California. He, like McCain, has a website in Spanish. The site includes a video of his son Craig, speaking for 38 seconds in fluent Spanish, stressing the candidate’s virtues as a father.
Romney’s grandparents were Mormons who fled the United States because of the U.S. government’s opposition to polygamy. Mexico President Porfirio Díaz allowed Mormons to establish a colony in Chihuahua. When the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, the Romneys moved to Oakley, Idaho, and eventually ended up in Salt Lake City.
Romney has enlisted a key Latino figure, Al Cárdenas, in his campaign Former president of the Florida Republican Party, Cardenas chairs the “Romney for President” Hispanic steering committee. His voice can be heard on a radio ad that targets Spanish speaking voters.
As for the other two remaining GOP candidates, Mike Huckabee at one point supported the Bush-backed immigration plan that provided a path to residency for many undocumented workers. Huckabee has ex” pressed that massive deportation is “unworkable.” He wants a secure border, not a “closed” one. When asked about his lenient past position as Alabama governor on education for undocumented workers’ children, he said we shouldn’t punish the children for the sins of their fathers.
Ron Paul supported the strict House Sensenbrenner bill on immigration and voted in favor to authorizing a 700-milefence along the border.
During their last televised Republican debate, all candidates favored reinforcing border security. Romney also urged considerable deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Mc Cain said he would not try to revive the bipartisan immigration reform bill he co-authored in 2006 because the American people want to protect the border first.
He spoke in favor of stricter sanctions for employers who hire undocumented workers, but said authorities should wait for the children of undocumented immigrants to finish their school year before deporting them. Only Huckabee flatly rejected a proposal to deny citizenship to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.
While the Democratic race might go on beyond Feb. 5, the GOP race is more likely to conclude this week with a definite winner. Hispanic Link.
