Posted on 06/11/2007 9:57:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
All of the Republican presidential contenders have turned down an invitation to speak in Orlando to the nation's largest gathering of Hispanic elected officials, at a time when their constituents are poised to be a powerful force in the 2008 election.
Making the GOP field's absence particularly conspicuous, all of the leading Democratic candidates are planning to address NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, on June 30. The Republicans were asked to participate in a forum the previous day.
About 1,000 Hispanic leaders, representing the fastest-growing part of the electorate, are expected at the conference. Hispanic voters could be particularly influential this year because of their strong presence in big states that have scheduled early presidential primaries, including Florida and California.
''If you're a candidate for president, this is the gold mine of Hispanic support,'' NALEO's senior director of programs, Marcelo Gaete, said Monday.
Three of the highest-ranking Republicans in Florida -- U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, Gov. Charlie Crist and House Speaker Marco Rubio -- are scheduled to address the group. Republican state Rep. Juan Zapata of Miami, who serves on NALEO's board, lobbied for the annual conference to be held in Florida for the first time in a decade.
''The Republican presidential candidates turning their back on this event is kind of shameful,'' said Zapata, who represents a heavily Republican Cuban-American district. ``Politically, it could have been huge for us. I want to know why they're not coming.''
Representatives for Rudy Giuliani and John McCain confirmed that they were not attending the conference. The McCain campaign issued a written statement that read: ``Unfortunately, Sen. McCain's schedule will not allow him to attend. . . . With that said, Sen. McCain's campaign is taking his common sense conservative message, which includes spending restraint, strong national security addressed in comprehensive immigration reform and support for traditional values, directly to all Americans, including Hispanics.''
A spokeswoman for the other leading Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, did not return a call late Monday.
NALEO announced Monday that nearly all of the Democratic candidates -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich -- will participate in a two-hour forum. Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, is the only Hispanic in the race.
The absence of the GOP field comes at a time when the national debate over immigration has divided the party. Martinez, who also serves as general chairman of the Republican National Committee, criticized Giuliani and Romney last week for opposing a plan to legalize millions of undocumented workers.
Martinez helped craft the legislation, which collapsed in the Senate last week. McCain came to the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables earlier this month to deliver a speech defending the proposal.
The presidential candidates from both parties have also been invited to come to Miami for the first presidential debates to be conducted entirely in Spanish. Univision, the nation's highest-rated Spanish-language network, will broadcast the forums in September. So far, only Richardson and Dodd -- who both speak Spanish -- have accepted.
Actually, they just didn’t want to go to Orlando, the anus of Florida...
Blame Bush, and La Raza, Mr. Zapata. The '08 GOP Presidential candidates have heard the collective roar of the public, and don't want to get burned...
the infowarrior
Let me guess, they’re bigots, vigilantes, nativists and even racists...isn’t that what we’ve been called by our GOP leaders for opposing the AMNESTY bill?
No actually that would be Daytona . Tampa is the armpit, with Orlando rounding out third place being the ......well what’s left ....
Yet, the Miami Herald doesn’t have a problem with the Democrats refusing to appear in a debate hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus on Fox News!
At least Daytona has a beach and Tampa a few good places to eat. Who wants to live in the middle of a swamp 40 miles from the ocean, where the largest employer is a six foot tall rodent?
“Blame Bush, and La Raza, Mr. Zapata. The ‘08 GOP Presidential candidates have heard the collective roar of the public, and don’t want to get burned...”
Bingo!!
Miami Ft. lauderdale must be the true Derrière. Born and raised there.
It’s good the GOP isn’t falling into the trap of grouping all brown people together. The Candidate who came here and gave a strong speech on the impact of illegal immigration but at the same time lauding the contributiongs of legal Latinos on this nation would have a huge leg up. Hopefully it wouldn’t be a nutjob like Ron Paul. Paging Fred Thompson. Do none of these people remember they have a primary in Florida on January 29?
Daytona is bad , really bad . If you want to visit Daytona , at least stay in Orlando where the Hotels are nice , thanks to the mouse . Just some friendly advice.
Well at least there is some culture and good places to eat in South Florida . Orlando has no culture and Daytona and Tampa have the kind of culture that grow in warm moist places .....
Worse than Orlando proper, is Kissimmee. What a pit that town is, apart from the hotel area, and even that can get kind of skivvy.
To stick to the subject at hand, I've never really cared for ethnic politics. The more pols avoid conventions of the NAACP, LULAC, etc., the better off we will all be.
“All of the Republican presidential contenders have turned down an invitation to speak in Orlando to the nation’s largest gathering of Hispanic elected officials”
Not ever Juan McCain?
You’re right , north of Daytona is the place to be . I would only recommend South Florida if you have plenty of money . Everywhere else in between , forget it , it sucks .
Yep, he bailed too... Should be telling folks something, if they had a modicum of brains...
the infowarrior
Some folks are off topic. Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale. What am I missing?
You’re right , we were discussing where not to go when you visit Florida. Probably equally as important as the original topic .
Just say NO to Amnesty!! Keep calling!! It’s NOT OVER!!
U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
If it wasn’t for the fact that the republicans are killing America it would be funny that they are in this bind.
Jimmy Durante: Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go, and still have the feeling that you wanted to stay?
Nothing wrong at all with speaking to the association of Hispanic elected officials — unless they’re heavily liberal. But it would be very wrong to do a Spanish-language TV debate.
It is wrong that the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials even exists!
I seriously don’t understand the need for a ‘race-based’ group. Why meet the hispanic group, black group....
It’s not like I’m going to join the ‘White Union’ (which I am not entirely) and ask for attention. I stand alone on my views and I’ll listen to anyone reasonable enough to be in that office.
America is really bad off. We don’t need race-based special interests groups.
Looks to me that it would be a good opportunity for one of the candidates to “speak truth to power,” with these folks.
No, they are elected officials being directed by constituants
who elected them into office. We are a Republic FYI..
I agree. I think it is foolish for any serious candidate not to show up for this, especially in Florida where many Cuban-Americans are fairly reliable Republicans. Plus, Florida is a potential "swing state" to begin with.
I wonder if Fred will pull a coup and show up?
I agree, but La Raza is worse.
I don’t judge a whole organization to be worthless as a political forum just because theoretically, in an ideal world, it wouldn’t exist.
It’s a bit outside of Orlando, but I did eat at a really nice resturaunt in Howey In The Hills last time I was there, back in the late 1980’s.
Sorry, can’t recall the name now.
I grew up in Hollywood/Dania actually and in the early 80’s frequented Tugboat Annies in Dania.
Not the term "Hispanic elected officials". Hyphenated officials in my mind are traitors. Naturalized immigrants elected to uphold the Constitution, only to betray that trust by giving away the boarders to all comers.
The very worst form of treason in my book.
The new calling plan, “Call All”
It is time to call beyond the published phone numbers. Example; 202-224-3121 is the published number for the Senate Switchboard. If you dial 202-224-2887 you get the Senate Commerce Committee answer line. 202-224-3445 end up with the Senate Building Health Unit The idea is to work through the last four digits in sequence who answers give them the message. Some of you geeks, I say that with admiration; can probably develop a list of all the combinations which will keep us busy from the calling end. Are you with me?
“all of the leading Democratic candidates are planning to address NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials”
Imagine the uproar if a group called NAWEO, the National Association of White Elected and Appointed Officials, asked candidates to attend its conference.
Aren’t most of Floridas Hispanics Cuban? A great many of them are conservative. Without the Cuban vote in Fla. we would have had President Gore. Dissing loyal voters isn’t a good thing.
Yes, the Cubans tend to break Conservative . Florida also has a considerable Puerto Rican population that trends about 60/40 to the Dims . Some of the counties that Gore carried in ‘00 , were counties with a heavy percentage of PR voters .
How many of those elected Hispanic officials are Reps?
Backed by the largest Spanish-language broadcast network in the U.S., a massive campaign by Latino media and grass-roots groups to spur millions of eligible Hispanic residents to become U.S. citizens is showing results that could influence the agenda and outcome of the 2008 election.
More than eight million green-card holders -- that is, legal permanent residents -- are eligible to become U.S. citizens, and the majority are immigrants of Latin American origin, according to U.S. government data. Now, Univision Communications Inc. is using its considerable clout with the Spanish-speaking community in the U.S. to turn this latent voting bloc into an active and potentially potent force.
The citizenship drive, which is about to go national, could help turn Latinos into a key electoral constituency in several states. A larger bloc of new Latino voters would likely influence the immigration debate that has been dividing the country. In part because of this, Hispanic voters in recent elections have tended to cast ballots mostly for Democrats. For instance, in the 2006 congressional contest, Republican candidates who take a harder line on illegal immigrants than their rivals garnered only 31% of the Latino vote.
At this point I will admit that I am probably assuming a great deal when I say they are a Hispanic coalition wanting to make their positions about what they expect of the candidates, for their support.
Also, from what I've seen and heard from Hispanic coalitions, immigration is pretty high on their priority list.
However it falls at this point, it really doesn't matter much if people at all levels of government are doing a little bit, it adds up to a lot.
pandering to “The Race” will get republicans nowhere.
So far, they're ALL still ILLEGAL, thus, not able to vote in '08, snif, snif.
I don't care if this group calls themselves Republicans or not. We as conservatives should be above grouping people by the color of their skin, no matter how innocuous it may appear.
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