How many Hispanic voters were in your precinct? 2? I used to be a precinct captain in a heavily republican area during the same period. It was Phil Cranes' district. There were over 200 homes in my precinct and the rep/dem ratio of registered voters was about 70/30. Even though the democrat percentage was low that still meant numerically a lot of dem votes. Your story does not ring true given that hispanics, especially then, overwhelmingly vote democratic.
And why were you pushing Bush in 80' when Reagan, a true conservative, was on the ballot? You strike me as kind of a RINO. The kind I used to come across in the party, usually at GOP get togethers. I remember thinking back then, "what kind of republicans are this"?. Talking to a RINO was like talking to a democrat.
As a landlord I have had over 800 immigrants in my apartments in the past.
Well that explains a lot....if true.
I have found jobs for over 100 that were not my tenants, plus many that were.
You found jobs for over a 100 hispanics and then some huh. Hmm, What kind of jobs were they Spintree? Were you fronting for employers of Illegal Aliens? Sounds like it. Again, if true.
I have been part of organizing hundreds in political action on slum housing, police protection, etc.
Lost me there. It really is hard to take you seriously.
The Hanover Park area I refer to is Schaumburg Twp precincts 10, 19, 22, 36, 38, 51, 86 (Cran's area). They averaged about 20 Hispanic voters per precinct. Only one 3d generation Hispanic lady in precinct 86 voted Democrat. Your implication is right in that Hispanics have a relatively low voter turnout.
Hispanics are neither naturally Republican or Democrat. In Mexico, PAN of Vicente Fox is the party of the Catholics and small businessmen. PRI is the party of labor unions and big business (Think of the Warren Buffets, Bill Gates and George Soros of Mexico). PRD is the party of the intelligentsia, TV and newspaper reporters and academics.
Prior to the first election of Fox, whcih was the first ever national defeat of PRI, polls were done of Mexicans in Chicago. 70% of Mexicans in the city supported PAN's Fox. 20% PRD. only 10% PRI. In the suburbs, 90% of Mexicans supported PAN's Fox. 9% PRI. Under 1% PRD. That is much more pro-PAN than Mexico itself. Thus Mexican immigrants are not "typical" Mexicans. At least in Illinois, they are more favorable to Catholic values and small business than the "typical" Mexican who remains in Mexico.
Just as whites in the city vote different from whites in the suburbs, so Hispanics in the suburbs are more "Republican". In the '60's the Republican Ogilvie organization of which I was a part reached out to Hispanics while the Democrat machine was very racist, especially ward committeemen Biesczat and Keane in my NW Chicago area. The result was that Hispanics in my part of the city, led by Hispanic businessmen, were more Republican than Poles in the same area. That included both Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and especially Cubans. Now granted, a lot of those Hispanic Republicans were Rockefeller Republicans. The only elected Hispanic officials were a Republican Alderman and a Republican County Superintendant of Education. But when Ogilvie put in the income tax and Conservative Democrat Dan Walker ran and governed as the most conservative Illinois governor in my lifetime, and Nixon seemed anti-Hispanic to the Hispancis, the many Chicago Hispanic Republicans switched to Democrat. A lot of that was due to the political skills of Democrat Ward Committeeman Dick Mell in positioning himself and the non-Biesczat.
In recent times Republican Gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan has been the #1 anti-Hispanic politician in the Spanish media, especially LaRaza. This is due to his intentional framing of Rolando Cruz, who Jim Ryan knew to be guilty of nothing more than being a pothead and habitual liar. I am not aware of a single Hispanic who voted for Jim Ryan in 2002, including my wife.
Although Hispanics are "conservative" they do not vote on ideology. Most of them vote based on "friendliness"... who seems the most friendly to them. The Jim Ryans, Pete Wilsons, Pat Buchanans, etal come accross as unfriendly by their "tone". Consider how many Hispanics in Californika agreed with Pete Wilson on the issue but voted against him when they had voted for other Republicans in the past. Why? Peter Wilsom came accross as "unfriendly".
In contrast consider Chcago's Democrat Dick Mell local. He has the political skill to be anti-Hispanic to a group of racists and 20 minutes later go to a group of Hispanics and appear pro-Hispanic. And for 30 years both groups have stayed loyal to Mell. That illustrated that political skill wins a lot more votes that being right ont he issues. I vote ideologically. But most people, especially Hispanics factor in a lot more friendliness than ideology.