In English and in Spanish, Bush spoke over the gale

The St. Pete Times ^ | 9/29/2004 | Mary Jo Melone

[dawn53]

...But none of that impressed me the way Jeb Bush did. Not for standing tall and radiating calm in crisis - you expect a governor to do that - but for a gesture that most Floridians might gloss over or even resent.

As he has done with this season's other hurricanes, whenever he had a press briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Bush explained himself not only in English but in Spanish.

Then, according to his spokesman, Jacob DiPietre, Bush did something many of us never saw. He repeated his message in interviews with Spanish language TV and radio - over and over through six weeks of storms...

[dawn53]

Will wonders never cease...Mary Jo Melone has written a positive article about the Governor. Whatever your feelings about the number of Spanish speaking in Florida...it is a reality, and those people needed to be warned...and Bush stepped up to the plate. Also noted, many Dems think the hurricanes may backfire on the governor and consequently, the President. If this story is any indication, Jeb Bush's excellent job during these crisis has been appreciated by liberals.

[BunnySlippers]

Bump

[chemicalman]

Also noted, many Dems think the hurricanes may backfire on the governor and consequently, the President.

I don't think it'll backfire. I saw GW handing out bags of ice and water to people on TV along with Jeb. Those images says it all. Down to earth, hard working, and caring human beings.
The only images I had seen of Kerry was after H Charlie, and all he was doing was walking around and talking to some storm victims.

[Smocker]

She does manage to interject a bit of politics by complaining about the English only ammendment. Couldn't leave well enough alone.

Her superb revealing quote was: "Because of this, their personal universe is bigger, broader. They have the kind of sensitivity that would propel Jeb Bush to reach out to Floridians who are invisible to many of the rest of us."

Translation: The Bush guys are alright, liberals like me ignore anyone who isn't like us, we just don't see that hugemongous giant group of people living on this block of land simply because they aren't like us.

[hershey]

Jeb Bush has been there for Floridians time and time again. An excellent governor. They're lucky to have him.

[billclintonwillrotinhell]

Just out of curiosity, did all the other English-challenged foreigners in Florida drown or blow away in the hurricane because Jeb Bush didn't bother to learn their languages like he did Spanish?

[dawn53]

Hispanics make up about 17 percent of the population of Florida, there is no other ethnic population that even comes remotely close to those numbers.

Of course, many of those Hispanics have English as a second language. In many kids who came to this country as children, you cannot even detect an accent.

To be fair to Spanish speaking adults coming to this country let me use this as an analogy: my sister and her family live in Honduras. Spanish is their second language. They have been there for over 10 years, but she says to be fluent in the language took about 4 or 5 years, and that is to have the fluency of a 12 year old native speaker.

Many Spanish people coming to this country "get along" in English, but definitely would not be understanding the intricacies of a hurricane preparedness press conference given in English.

[libstripper]

Come 2008, we all may be lucky to have him as president.