Posted on 10/21/2006 4:06:05 PM PDT by calcowgirl
SANTA ANA, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, calling an intimidating letter sent to thousands of Hispanic voters "a hate crime," said Saturday the Republican candidate whose campaign it was linked to should quit the race if he had anything to do with it.
"I think this is one of the worst letters that anyone could send out. And I think those kind of tactics are illegal and it is a hate crime," Schwarzenegger said.
During a re-election campaign swing through Southern California on Saturday, Schwarzenegger met with a Hispanic business group in Orange County, where the mailing has infuriated Latino activists and may have scuttled the campaign of Tan D. Nguyen, a Republican congressional candidate.
"I think that anyone that knew and if he knew has to resign immediately," Schwarzenegger said. "I think there should be no tolerance for this kind of behavior."
A call left for Nguyen was not immediately returned Saturday afternoon.
Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant, is trying to unseat five-term Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez in the 47th Congressional District.
Nguyen has rejected previous calls from other officials in his party to abandon the race, saying a campaign staffer sent the mailing without his knowledge and has been fired.
The letter, written in Spanish, was mailed to an estimated 14,000 Democratic voters in Orange County. It warned: "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."
Adult naturalized citizens are eligible to vote. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said Friday that his office will send letters to homes that received the mailing to clarify voters' rights before the Nov. 7 election.
On Friday, law enforcement agents searched Nguyen's Santa Ana home, his campaign headquarters in Garden Grove and a home in Anaheim listed as belonging to a Nguyen staffer.
Meanwhile, Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., wrote to the U.S. attorney general urging that a federal investigation be completed swiftly.
"This shameful and dishonest scheme to discourage Latino citizens from voting is a blatant violation of the Voting Rights Act, and all those involved should be held accountable as soon as possible," Kennedy said.
Shortly after news of the letter broke Nguyen said he would hold a news conference Friday to explain what had happened. When Friday arrived, however, he didn't show up to meet reporters.
Isabel Procopio, a janitor and volunteer for Strengthening Our Lives, said she was knocking on doors in Garden Grove on Saturday as part of a campaign to encourage voter participation. Of the 30 doors she approached, she found 10 residents who had received the letter. "Many people told me they are really afraid," she said. "They also said they were angry. I'm telling them not to let racist Republicans intimidate us."
Gustavo Arellano, the OC Weekly staffer who writes the syndicated "Ask A Mexican!" column, said the letter would generate a massive backlash among Latino voters, who would be galvanized to defeat Republicans in local elections in November.
Such excitement, huh? Who is doing the hating, I wonder . . .
Yes, Claremont. Northridge didn't sound quite right.
That's the gal.
Indeed it will!
ROTF
Time will tell! Hopefully they will actually release some facts!!!
Arnold has it in the bag and you need to breath into one for about an hour!!! Ha Ha Ha!!!
Yeah, what was up with Nguyen calling a news conference, not showing up and instead the cops show up to raid his offices. Someone made sure it would all be televised.
There's a Javier Gonzalez that just happens to own a website where you can buy t-shirts. Would the name Javier Gonzalez be a common one?
Some of the press made it sound like he ditched the news conference. I think he was just overwhelmed by events.
ROFL!
Very, very common.
You can say that again... And again... And again... like everything else you redundantly repeat ad infinitum, even ad nauseum!!!
Could I interest you in a chill pill??? You're gonna really need one at this rate... maybe even a 30 day supply!!!(grin)
-- Quote from Frank Barbaro when asked why he joined the crowd watching Tan Nguyen's campaign office being raided by officials today:
"If I was in early Rome, I would have gone to see the Christians being eaten."
Darn!!!
The raid was timed for when the cameras would be there. How convenient.
Look at the microphones... all the Spanish-language stations.
Poorly written. If their point was to include all non-citizens then it should have read "illegal or non-citizen legal immigrant." Of course green-carded immigrants are also not eligible to vote, though naturalized immigrants are.
Arnold is an IDIOT to call this a hate crime.
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