← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Kurt
Thread ID: 7121 | Posts: 2 | Started: 2003-06-04
2003-06-04 18:04 | User Profile
Just another reminder that the Republicans are not your friend; that is, unless you're a "minority."
[SIZE=2]Republicans Turn To Spanish To Build Hispanic Support[/SIZE] [url=http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA65ZOKJGD.html]AP Breaking News ^[/url] | 04 June 2003 | Dennis Conrad
WASHINGTON (AP) - With an eye toward the nation's fast-growing Hispanic community, Capitol Hill Republicans are turning to textbooks to win their support. Led by Illinois Rep. Jerry Weller, a group of 19 House Republicans and one Senate Republican have signed up to participate in a Spanish-language program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Graduate School. It's the largest group of congressional lawmakers to participate in the language program that officials say initially began as a nonpartisan program in 1999 under the leadership of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and has had dozens of participants.
Starting Thursday, about 50 House Republican staff will also begin participating in the 10-week program of once-a-week, two-hour conversational lessons. For Weller's group's first class, attendance was not the best. Fifteen showed up for the 7 a.m. lesson in a room above the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, and some had to leave before the end. But the congressman, whose north-central Illinois district is 8 percent Hispanic, said the GOP is committed for the long haul. "Republicans in Congress are eager to work with the Hispanic community on President Bush's agenda, and the launch of 'Spanish on The Hill' shows we are serious about working with Spanish-speaking America," he said. Weller said they would only wait until next week before they start learning such phrases as "Vote por los Republicanos" - "Vote for Republicans."
For their first lesson, teacher Maria Luisa Carver used visual aids such as magazine covers featuring Democrats like former President Bill Clinton as she taught the Republicans to say the Spanish equivalent of "He is a Democrat." Hispanic registered voters totaled 7.5 million in the 2000 census. And they represent a key voting bloc in electorally rich states such as California, Florida, New York and Texas. But Hispanic elected officials are overwhelmingly Democrats. Weller said Republicans such as Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have shown that when they communicate effectively with Hispanics they can demonstrate they have the same values of family, work, education and opportunity and warrant their majority support.
é 2003 Associated Press
2003-06-05 04:51 | User Profile
This is more or less old news, but it never tires me to read about Republicrats going out of their way to woo Latins into voting for the Greasy Ol' Party. Even if Jeb Shrub has a Mexican wife with half-breed children, that ain't worth one soppapilla to them. Latins vote Democratic, and identify with the Demoslut party just like Blacks do.