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.
"THIS is the problem. Not sure if this is an accurate translation of Spanish. But if so, the letter was indeed a violating of the VRA, and a disgrace. Immigrant citizens are welcome to vote. Take that clause out and I am in full support of the letter."
I agree that the problem is the sentence that states that immigrants cannot vote legally. If I remember correctly, naturalized citizens can vote legally. It is those who have not been naturalized, but are here legally that can not vote legally.
For what it's worth, I've already filled out my ballot, with R's from Tom McClintock on down--but the vote for governor is still blank.
Also, I've consistently been anti-3rd party on this forum. I do not advocate anyone in a swing state or swing district voting third party, even if the R is a RINO. In this case, though, Arnold is a prohibitive favorite (90% on TradeSports), so a protest vote seems a reasonable option.
"Democratic gubernatorial challenger Phil Angelides had earlier denounced Nguyen's campaign, which sent mailers to 14,000 registered voters."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-gov22oct22,0,7677150.story?coll=la-center-politics-cal
Yes, much better to help Angelids win. (/sarc/)
Yes, go help the Dems, they are real friends of conservatives. (/sarc)
"State Democratic Chairman Art Torres said party leaders were planning a rally for Orange County on Tuesday. "It's a hate crime as far as we are concerned," Torres said
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,223140,00.html
If Tom McClintock wins the Lt Gov's race, he'll be well positioned for a run for Gov in 2010. Tom is, indeed, a real Republican.
"Arnold hates Republican candidates and Republican principles."
=====
Totally FALSE statement. But not your first nor less, in trying to bash Republicans to help the Dems win.
State Democratic Chairman Art Torres said party leaders were planning a rally for Orange County on Tuesday. "It's a hate crime as far as we are concerned," Torres said
So, Arnold's joining with the DemonRats in attacking a Republican congressional candidate helps the conservative cause in precisely what way?
The letter should have just said, that if you are not a citizen, it's illegal for you to vote, then nobody could have found any problems with it.
Yes, we would have been much better off with Davis or Bustamante. (/sarc)
You never seem to stop campaigning for the leftist Marxists, do you?
The point is that Arnold making this comment was a dumb thing to do, but to use that as an excuse to not vote for him, is a much worse thing to do, to help Angelides and the Dems who are much worse in every respect.
"As is, with the RINO enjoying a double-digit lead, I've a free vote."
===
NO you don't.
Some recent polls showed the race tightening, Arnold ahead by 7-9 ovtes. The polls also don't take into account how many illegals and dead or nonexistent people will be voting Dem. Arnold needs every vote.
Looks like the "employee" set up Nguyen. The letter reads like a wet dream of what secure border advocate would say.
I'd say Ramirez was a Sanchez plant.
That is exactly what I read. And as I read it Arnold is very wrong for siding against another Republican candidate. How much is Arnold helping the party when he pulls stunts like this. I don't live in California, I don't know what I would do. I probably would hold my nose and vote for him, but I am not sure how heart broken I would be if he loses.
but I am not sure how heart broken I would be if he loses.
According to a source close to the investigation, the attorney general's office has determined that an LAPD officer, who is a friend of a worker in Nguyen's office, paid $4,000 on a credit card for the bulk mailing of the letter and used an alias. (source)
Hmmmmm...you might talk me into it yet. I've left the governor's section blank and I've not mailed my ballot. :)
Right - but then the "immigrant" word (which according to another poster may be mistranslated) implies that immigrants cannot be citizens and cannot vote. Wrong, and insulting if that was what was written.
Ay, Chihuahua! It sure could get interesting.
The more I think about this, I'm sure it's the work of the enemy.
You remember that female professor out at CalState Northridge who "found" hate grafitti on her car, got a lot of "hate crime" mileage of that. Then, it turned out she was the one who put it there.
I have very little doubt the letter is the work of the California Democratic machine.
I don't know what they were specifically talking about, but there was a requirement in the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), 2002, that required a statewide voter registration database be established by January 1, 2006. See here. California had some problems with that (apparently due to prior SOS Shelley's inaction), so SOS McPherson struck a deal with DOJ. See here.
Notwithstanding the above, the statement is false because it said:
Organizaciones en contra de la emigración podrán pedir información de este nuevo sistema computarizado.Reportedly, such organizations would have no access to the database.Organizations against emigration can ask for information from this new computer system.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.