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Esta página no está disponible en español. McCall Stresses Ties To Latino Community, Challenges Pataki's… Analysis Of New McCall TV Ad… Pataki Presses On For Latino Support
McCall Stresses Ties To Latino Community, Challenges Pataki's By DEEPTI HAJELA September 17, 2002 NEW YORK (AP) - The importance of the Hispanic vote was on display Tuesday as Democrat gubernatorial candidate H. Carl McCall held a news conference with New York City Latino leaders to emphasize his connection to that community and challenge Republican Gov. George Pataki's ties. Both campaigns also unveiled Spanish-language ads. McCall said Pataki was acting out of political expediency in trying to be the Latino community's "new friend," a charge Pataki's campaign dismissed as "wild accusations." "It is very clear ... that George Pataki recognizes the power and the voting potential of the Latino community," McCall said a news conference attended by former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat and City Councilman Joel Rivera, as well as Dennis Mehiel, the Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor. "He is trying very hard to be ... the new friend that shows up at election time, has no record in terms of any real commitment to the community and in fact, is at odds with the issues and the aspirations that define this community. The difference is that for many, many years, I have attempted to be a true friend to the community," McCall said. Pataki, who has learned to speak Spanish, has made inroads with Hispanics through his opposition to U.S. military bombing on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques and has the support of Dennis Rivera, president of Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union and the state's most powerful Hispanic leader. His campaign was scornful of McCall's comments. "The McCall campaign's troubling pattern of insulting Hispanic New Yorkers who choose to support Governor Pataki is just plain desperate," said Pataki campaign manager Adam Stoll. "Hispanic New Yorkers support Governor Pataki because he respects their community and delivers. Carl McCall and his operatives should stop these wild accusations and insults and apologize to the Hispanic community." Both campaigns unveiled ads on Tuesday targeting Spanish speakers. In McCall's ad, Ferrer, Espaillat, Rivera, and U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez tell would-be voters that McCall understands Hispanics and their issues. Pataki's ad has him speaking in Spanish and extolling the importance of education. According to Census 2000 figures, the number of people identifying themselves as Hispanic in New York is 2.9 million, up from 2.2 million 10 years ago. Three-quarters of the state's Hispanics live in New York City.
Analysis Of New McCall Television Ad September 17, 2002 An analysis of a new television advertisement from Democratic candidate for governor H. Carl McCall: TITLE: "Oficiales." LENGTH: 30 seconds. PRODUCER: GMMB (Frank Greer), Washington, and MirRam Group (Luis Miranda and Roberto Ramirez), New York City. LANGUAGE: Spanish. AIRING: Began Monday in the New York City market. SCRIPT (English translation provided by McCall campaign): New York City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera: We're all going to vote for Carl McCall. McCall understands Hispanics, he's our candidate. U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez: You don't have to sit Carl McCall down and explain which issues are most important to our community. He's lived them and he's overcome them. State Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat: He's a humble man, a man who understands our problems, what afflicts, concerns our community. Velazquez: Carl McCall embodies the future and the aspirations of our community. Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer: Carl McCall deserves our votes and our support. KEY IMAGES: Top political leaders from New York City's Hispanic community are shown praising McCall. There are also shots of McCall with crowds and strolling along a street, talking to a Hispanic man. The key shot may be McCall and Ferrer together at last year's Puerto Rican Day parade as Ferrer campaigned for the Democratic nomination for mayor ofNew York City. McCall is shown in an open-collar white shirt, waving to the crowd as Puerto Rican flags are waved. Ferrer lost the Democratic nomination to Mark Green. ANALYSIS: This is a clear attempt by McCall to cut into Republican Gov. George Pataki's support in the Hispanic community. The governor has gained high marks among Hispanic voters for his opposition to the U.S. Navy's practice bombing on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques . Pataki has also nabbed the endorsement of labor union leader Dennis Rivera, a former member of the Democratic National Committee and widely viewed as the most politically powerful Hispanic in New York City. McCall answers with his own group of Hispanic supporters, including Ferrer, who may be the most popular Hispanic politician in the city. Given the fact that McCall is black, the minority voter battleground appears to have shifted primarily to the Hispanic community. Pataki unveiled a new Spanish-language ad of his own on Tuesday in which he speaks Spanish. ACCURACY: Without saying it outright, the ad implies that because McCall belongs to a minority group and grew up poor, he has a special connection to concerns of the Hispanic community. McCall was one of Ferrer's strongest supporters in last year's mayoral race.
Pataki Presses On For Latino Support By Jordan Rau, ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF September 16, 2002 Mount Vernon - Undeterred by the Democrats' success in skirting a divisive primary, Gov. George Pataki is stepping up his re-election strategy of trying to win over blacks, Latinos and other nontraditional GOP supporters. On Friday, the Pataki campaign released a television advertisement featuring testimonials from a number of Democrats, including former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, state Sen. Olga Mendez (D-Manhattan) and the Rev. Franklyn Richardson, the pastor of the Grace Baptist Church in this Westchester city. The commercial ends with the group together urging voters: "We're Pataki Democrats. Join us." Yesterday, Pataki appeared before Richardson's mostly black congregation to signal that he will not concede the state's black vote even though the Democrats have nominated State Comptroller H. Carl McCall as the party's first black nominee for governor. At the pulpit, Pataki argued that the terrorists and victims in the World Trade Center attack illustrated that racial differences between New Yorkers are irrelevant. "The terrorists didn't say, 'We're going to hit the 89th floor because white people are on the 89th floor and black people are on the 90th floor and Latino people are down on the 78th floor,' " Pataki said. "And just imagine you had the worst racist sitting in the 78th [floor] and a black firefighter comes up. Do you think he says, 'I'm going to wait for a white firefighter?' " Pataki made sure the congregation was aware that he has appointed people of more than one color. Sitting alongside the governor during the service were Secretary of State Randy Daniels, the highest-ranking black in the Pataki administration, as well as two senior administration aides who are black. In the afternoon, Pataki moved on to the Latino vote, serving as the grand marshal of the ninth annual Mexican Day Parade. Pataki's strategy has been under way for well over a year, driven by the 5-3 ratio of enrolled Democrats to Republicans in the state. For much of the campaign season many political experts believed the governor had a chance at peeling away many Democratic supporters because he has spent so much of his second term embracing traditionally liberal programs, including expanded health insurance for low-income families. The experts also thought that a nasty Democratic primary like the one in last year's mayoral race would drive many voters into Pataki's camp. The Democrats' bloodless primary has reduced in the minds of political observers the likelihood that Pataki will win over as many Democrats. In particular, with McCall now the Democratic challenger, many strategists believe it will be challenging for Pataki to even win 15 percent of the black vote, the proportion he secured in his last re-election campaign in 1998. Still, Pataki does not need to win a majority of all these Democratic constituencies to best McCall. Already he has a number of union leaders helping out his campaign, and some political consultants believe it is possible he may secure as much as 40 percent of the Latino vote.
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