Mitt Romney Has Fences to Mend to Gain Hispanic Votes
Posted: Jan 20, 2012
Mitt Romney, the Republican Party's presumptive presidential candidate, made his first attempts to gain critical support from Latino voters this month, but failed to confront his own negative record on issues of high priority to Latino voters.
During a primary race stop in New Hampshire Jan. 9, he spoke of the need to "convince more Latino Americans to vote Republican" if the GOP wants to be competitive in November against the Democrats and Barack Obama, who is already campaigning for reelection.
Running against John McCain in 2008, Obama won 67 percent of the Latino vote.
On Jan. 11 Romney released his first Spanish-language television ad in Florida's Miami-Dade County, which is heavily populated by Latinos. In a televised Sept. 22 GOP debate, he attacked Texas Gov. Rick Perry for having signed into law 10 years ago a bill granting in-state tuition at the Lone Star State's public universities and colleges and reaffirmed that he would not support an immigration reform proposal to legalize any of the nation's 11 million undocumented persons.
In an interview with Univisión Jan. 11, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) commented that if Romney is serious about trying to recruit Latinos to vote for him, he must change his tough stance on immigration. "He's right that he has to attract Latino voters. He's wrong in that every time he says something, he does
anything but attract Latinos to his candidacy," Becerra said.
Romney also stated during a Dec. 31 campaign stop in New Hampshire that, if elected, he would veto the DREAM Act.
On Jan. 11, the same day his campaign released the Spanish-language commercial, Romney enthusiastically accepted the endorsement of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who helped shape Arizona's and Alabama's immigration laws. Kobach is active with the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a "hate group."
Adam Busto, president of Somos Republicans, points to Romney's endorsement from Kobach as well as his stances on immigration and the DREAM Act as examples of how the candidate is out of touch with issues important to Latinos. Somos Republicans is the country's largest such organization, with 6,000 members. Busto said that unless Romney changes his stance on the DREAM Act, the group would not support him if he becomes the Republican nominee. His group would even consider supporting a Democrat or a presidential candidate from another party, he told Hispanic Link.
Romney's release of the Spanish commercial comes just a couple weeks before the Jan. 31 primaries in Florida, where 22.5 percent of the state's population is Latino.
The commercial, titled Nosotros (Us), aired in Miami-Dade County where 72 percent of registered Republicans are Latino, mostly Cuban. It starts with Craig Romney, the former Massachusetts governor's son, talking in Spanish about his father's values. Congress members Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Díaz- Balart, along with Mario's brother and former congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart,
elaborated on Romney's plans to create jobs and "restore this country's national security."
Romney won the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus and Jan. 9 New Hampshire primary. The next vote is Jan. 21 in South Carolina, where a recent poll shows a close contest brewing between Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Romney.
On Jan. 16 former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who ran third in New Hampshire, withdrew from the primary and endorsed Romney.
Gingrich concedes that if Romney wins in South Carolina, "he's probably going to be the nominee." He also points to how Romney’s campaign funding advantage gives him a boost. In the last three months of 2011, Romney raised $24 million while Ron Paul and Gingrich combined raised $22 million.
Busto states, "Any candidate that has the Latino support behind him could win the presidency" but Romney won’t get support from Republican Latinos "if he's going to veto the DREAM Act, like he claims, and if he's going to accept the support of people like Kris Kobach."
Somos Republicans is also calling for the Florida delegation in Congress to renounce its support of Romney.
Most analysts claim a GOP candidate must gain at least 40 percent of the Hispanic vote to win the White House. A Dec. 28 Pew Hispanic Center poll showed in a match-up with Obama, Romney would get 23 percent of that vote while President Obama would get 68 percent.
Griselda Nevárez is a reporter with Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C.
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User Comments
Dave Francis on Jan 21, 2012 at 18:15:52 said:
It just goes to show that as illegal aliens flee Alabama, the unemployment rate is dropping for American labor--as according to several reports? Enforcement policing protocols are having the desired effect, which proves that state immigration laws do work if practiced and not neglected. My guess is that although I have not heard of any similar hiring statistics in Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina and even Utah, but it wouldnât surprise me if this news hasnât been suppressed by the newspapers and the central government. It will be very interesting to learn if promises are kept by the 4 remaining presidential personages. Even Gingrichâs agenda to give the long time illegal aliens some form of pardon, without citizenship. Whereas, I hate to think of a returning President Obama will have in-store for the United States? Whatever his idea of enforcing immigration laws are, it will just attract even more impoverished and criminals to arrive via our almost unprotected border or by international jet.
Who can we really trust to build the true parallel fences across the width of our nation? The establishment GOP capitalist will always demand cut price labor, with the Democrats hoping that by turning a blind eye, illegal aliens will vote in all electionsâleading up to the grand finale in 2012? Most farmers are not innocent in procuring cheap labor, knowing that the taxpayers will be the payee for the health care and the childrenâs education of unlawful workers. Politicians ignore the huge billion dollar costs for illegal family settlement, that these are court appointed unfunded mandates which has been a fiscal anchor around the necks of the U.S. populace. Does Gingrich, Romney, Santorum or even Paul recognize the financial impact on all 50 states? Welfare benefits have slowed to American citizens, especially in Sanctuary States as California, Nevada and others, because of the financial support to people who have contempt for our laws.
To restrain President Obama and his Liberal progressive Czars as Eric Holder, the only avenue is to elect strict TEA PARTY Constitutionalists in oncoming federal and state elections. There are two points to remember that entering the United States has been intentionally classed by Congress as a civil matter? That it is not classified as a Felony; as it should be? Although being hired for a job or using a stolen ID or another personâs Social Security card can be prosecuted as a felony, as they have committed two crimes. The Tea Party will rescind any covert amnesties, sanctuary city ordinances, chain migration, dream act. The Tea Party are determined to build the 2006 Secure Fences (ACT) and additionally overhaul federal spending. Become acquainted NumbersUSA and learn about the billions of dollars taken from taxpayers in unfunded mandates by pandering to illegal aliens.
This is labeled as a âBackdoor Amnesty.â Washington must enact âThe Legal Workforce Act âKnown more commonly as Mandated E-Verify. Plus âThe Birthright Citizenship Actâ to stop the inducement of bringing unborn infants into the country, that provides free welfare, education and health care. WE THE PEOPLEâS Constitution is under siege by the resident government and must be stopped, when they are allowing illegal aliens back on the streets. BE WARNED THAT NON-CITIZENS HAVE BEEN VOTING AND CERTAINLY WILL AGAIN IN FUTURE ELECTIONS. Every voter should possess official picture ID to vote?
Just come to light and been revealed in the highest levels of government. The Judicial Watch, the legal watchdog group has uncovered massive registration fraud with improprieties involving ACORN and in addition the Department of Justice. Read about the mind bending revelation of this organization that once employed Barack Obama. Judicial Watch is digging out the corruption in Washington DC, of implications to voter fraud; cementing the votes for our resident president by illegal means in our compromised election system. Go to www.rightsidenews.com for all the information.
The TEA PARTY does not alienate any race or nationality as the Liberal media would like you to think. It just requests the 1986 Immigration law (IRCA) enforced and not altered to pander to illegal migrants and immigrants.
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