Posted on 12/14/2014 5:20:18 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Jeb Bush does. The Democrats’ Castro brothers do not. Ted Cruz knows ‘Spanglish.’ But fluency and being able to talk to Hispanics are two entirely different matters.
The ability to speak Spanish is a prized commodity on the campaign trail, a way to prove your bona fides with Hispanics—the fastest-growing bloc of voters—and to show your inclusiveness in a rapidly changing country. Lots of Anglos are proficient in Spanish. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a potential presidential candidate, speaks nothing but Spanish at home, and has for years. His wife, Columba, is from Mexico.
A more recent phenomenon in the political universe is politicians of Hispanic heritage who are not fluent in Spanish. Maybe this shouldn’t be surprising. Many first-generation children of immigrants don’t speak their parents’ language. The urge to assimilate is strong, and it’s a way for kids to rebel and build their own lives in America.
Still, it came as a shock to many Democrats when they learned that two of their most prized new-generation stars, the 40-year-old twin brothers, Julian and Joaquin Castro, are not fluent Spanish speakers. Raised in San Antonio by a single mother who was a political activist and ran unsuccessfully for the city council, the brothers grew up in an environment that prized political engagement, but didn’t hone their Spanish skills.
With Julian a member of Congress representing San Antonio, and Joaquin in Obama’s Cabinet as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the political bright lights are beckoning. The twins recently appeared together at the annual Gridiron Dinner where they shared the podium and did a shout out of Spanish phrases, taking turns to see who was making more progress in learning the language.
Turning what would otherwise be an embarrassment into a joke had everyone at the dinner laughing and declaring the brothers first-rate political performers. When one (you can’t tell them apart) shouted out “Ted Cruz,” the other responded, “That’s not Spanish. That’s Canadian.”
Speaking of Ted Cruz, he’s candid about his Spanish-speaking skills. He declined an invitation in 2010 to debate his opponent in Spanish, telling Univision that, “My Spanish is a situation many of your viewers will recognize, which is that as a second-generation immigrant, my dad came from Cuba when he was a teenager not speaking English. And I grew up here speaking Spanglish,” a combination of Spanish and English words. “That’s the world in which I grew up, and that’s a world in which a lot of second-generation immigrants find themselves.”
Another prominent Latino politician who doesn’t speak Spanish is Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, who just won reelection and is likely to challenge Democrat Harry Reid for the Senate in 2016. If Sandoval weren’t pro-choice, he would be talked about for the national ticket in 2016.
Whether Spanish proficiency matters depends on where you are, says Jack Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College. “If you’re in Los Angeles County, where a substantial number of voters speak Spanish at home, a politician who can speak to them can campaign here in a way that other Republicans could not. That’s not to say Jeb Bush can carry Los Angeles County. If you’re a Republican you’re not going to carry the Hispanic vote, but if you’re Jeb Bush campaigning in Florida, you may pick up a few points, and that could make the difference.”
Any conversation about Spanish-speaking politicians leads back to Bush. His fluency “will help him communicate his policies on Telemundo and Univision,” says Sam Popkin, a political-science professor at the University of California San Diego. “There’s a divide in the Republican Party between keeping the country as what it was, and living with what it becomes.” Bush’s progressive stance on immigration is future-oriented, and could position the GOP to regain the 30 to 40 percent share of the Hispanic vote that George W. Bush received, and that Ronald Reagan got when he was governor of California in the ’70s.
Reagan used to say that Hispanics are conservatives, they just don’t know it yet—a view that Popkin echoes. “There’s a lot of middle-class, small-business-oriented Hispanics… But you can’t just eat a taco and give a speech in Spanish. It’s about your policies.”
The consensus appears to be that if you’re Hispanic and don’t speak Spanish, there’s no penalty. There’s even precedence in California of Hispanic candidates who can’t speak Spanish running against non-Hispanics who can, and the winner isn’t decided on language skills.
Over time with inter-marriage, these distinctions will become even less important. Pitney points out that he has a great niece who is Hispanic on her mother’s side but has red hair, freckles, and an Irish surname. Popkin made the case even more personally, saying he doesn’t speak Lithuanian or Russian, his ethnic heritage. “I don’t even speak Yiddish,” he adds, “But I’m still a Jew.” In other words, Hispanics like every other ethnic group know who’s with them, and who’s not, and it has less to do with the language that’s spoken than with the message that’s conveyed.
FUJB!! Amnesty pimps need not apply!!
That'll be handy if he ever runs for president of mexico.
And not all Spanish Speakers are the same nor do they all like each other, Cubans and Mexicans don’t get along, so Mexicans will really not like Cruz. So there’s no point in Cruz trying to pander to them.
She’s younger than I am——and I’m still here. :-)
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Do you go gallivanting on a broom when you’re not in the studio?
Well, he’s white enough for that.
Snake woman, Fauxchahantas, speaks Forked Tongue with a little Hammer and Sickle thrown in.
Oh Yes. The sneering, condescending, arrogant Clift.
Note the lecturing about how all the Troglodytes just won’t get with the program and accept living in Mexico Norte.
That's precisely wrong. No rebellion involved. Languages are hard. If you learn two languages, you'll be half as fluent in either language.
“Stay outta da bushes” is still good advice.
I know Spanish.
Fay Lee’s Navy Dad. (Merry Christmas)
Pro-Spiro Agnew. (Happy New Year)
Raised in NM I spoke spanglish as a kid....I had to relearn(wanted) many yrs later in order to communicate in S America. My wife and I speak 75% English at home with a mix of spanglish/Spanish.
I guess it’s how you live your life and environment. Most mexicans speak a very different Spanish than most of S America. Of course countries in SA have different dialects/accents.
I dont care what anyone speaks at home...Bush include...Im not voting for the scumbag anyway!
LOL! My 23 year old daughter, speaks English, Spanish and French and is fluent in all. She has lived for a time, in both France and Spain. My French ancestor who came to America in the 1700s, refused to teach his children French and insisted that they speak English, although he helped his fellow militiamen during the Revolutionary War by speaking to French troops and getting supplies for their fight against the British in 1781.
The whole article is pointless. I don’t care if a politician in the United States doesn’t speak Spanish well or at all. They shouldn’t have to speak any other language other than English. Idiot Clift. Must be off her meds again.
“I guess it’s how you live your life and environment. Most mexicans speak a very different Spanish than most of S. America. Of course countries in SA have different dialects/accents.”
I used to work in a clinic with a Mormon guy who did his mission in Argentina and spoke fluent Castilian Spanish. When Mexican farm workers came in he tried to translate but was not very good at it. The receptionist who was 3rd generation Tex-Mex could speak their lingo much better.
If a politician wants to speak Spanish he should run for office in a country where it is the dominant language - and that isn’t the USA. KMA Eleanor!
I watched the McLaughlin Group for years. And for years I prayed that Pat would get out of his chair and slap the smirk off of that skinny old hags prune face.
But Pat’s too nice of a guy. Darn it.
SHe you answered the important question first.
I figured that Elanor Clift and Al hunt were in the same dead boat ;)
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