Posted on 02/02/2007 11:36:24 PM PST by libs_kma
WASHINGTON — A Democratic love-fest came to a screeching halt Friday after a high-ranking Hispanic party official abruptly resigned amid allegations he used a racial slur during a heated argument with a black aide to Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.
Alvaro Cifuentes was chairman of the DNC's Hispanic Caucus and is well-known in national Hispanic Democratic circles.
Cifuentes was attending the DNC's winter meeting in Washington, D.C., on Friday when he and the aide got into an argument.
It's not clear what started the fight, but sources said Cifuentes called the aide, who is black, "boy" twice during the confrontation, and two conference attendees were alarmed enough to try and restrain Cifuentes.
Sources said they believed Cifuentes' actions to be physically intimidating, and his words racially insensitive.
DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney confirmed the resignation Friday evening, saying it occurred after a meeting with Dean, the former governor of Vermont. She said that Cifuentes resigned his post as caucus chairman, but remains a member of the DNC.
Asked if Dean forced Cifuentes to resign his post, Finney said: "Gov. Dean and Alvaro had a private meeting this afternoon. Following that meeting, Alvaro attended the Hispanic Caucus meeting, [and] submitted his resignation. It was accepted by the caucus."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"Diversity" is always such a kick!
Well, at least he didn't call him "macaca" or "coonass".
Cifuentes should apologize and mention that the boy is "bright", "articulate" and "clean".
...and good looking. ;-)
Wow. At first I was bothered that the Presidential race was off and running for the next two years. Now I am happy to see it. The liberals are going to be treating us to a show better than Laugh-In.
(CNN) -- Three days after the scream "heard 'round the world," Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean was still trying to explain his frenzied speech following his third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.
The Monday speech lost Dean the endorsement of Alvaro Cifuentes, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee's Hispanic caucus.
"I have been struggling for the past 48 hours with the performance I saw on TV. I instinctively turned it off after the first few minutes. I respectfully withdraw my present endorsement to Dean's candidacy," Cifuentes wrote in e-mail to the Dean campaign.
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