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Este informe no está disponible en español. Hispanic Link News ServiceA Gift from Democrats To GOP: The Latino Voteby MIGUEL PEREZAugust 23, 2000 This was the first Democratic National Convention in history when the party was under pressure to fight for the Hispanic vote. Clearly regarded as the lesser of two evils, Democrats had always taken Latino loyalty for granted. But at the Republican National Convention two weeks earlier, Democrats had been challenged to a fight over the vote from the barrios. The GOP challenge, based on newfound "compassionate conservatism," may have been superficial, but it begged a response. Many Latinos are buying the Republican rhetoric, and they need to be reminded of the GOP's mean-spirited, anti-immigrant past and the fairly positive Democratic record on Latino issues. So what did the Democrats do to hold onto the voting bloc that could swing the presidential election in key Electoral College states in November? Nada. From what the public saw on television, you would think Republicans are more pro-Hispanic than Democrats. The media made a much bigger deal out of the Republican outreach to Latinos -- probably because it was so rare -- than of Democratic outreach. But what did the Democrats do to counteract the "compassionate" rhetoric at the Republican convention? They gave us more cheap rhetoric about "diversity" and "ending discrimination" without getting down to specifics on Latino issues, which is where the one party often proves to be as hollow as the other. In fact, the only Hispanic who made headlines at the Democratic convention was the one who got banned from the podium. Instead of coming out to fight for the Latino vote, the Democrats began their convention by removing a Latina from the list of speakers as punishment for being naughty. Granted it was not the smartest move for Rep. Loretta Sánchez (D-Calif.) to plan a Hispanic fund-raiser at the Playboy Mansion at a time when Democrats are hoping to avoid focus on President Clinton's escapades. But the Democratic leadership overreacted by removing Sánchez -- quite hypocritically, since some of them have accepted campaign donations from Playboy. In the end, Sánchez agreed to move the fund-raiser to a different location, and she was offered back her spot as a convention speaker, which she turned down, much to her credit. Nevertheless, unfortunately, the flap over the Playboy Mansion became the most prominent "Hispanic issue" of the convention. In contrast, African-American leaders played hard to get. They held out until the last minute to force Vice President Al Gore and Sen. Joe Lieberman to take a clear stand in support of their issues, like affirmative action and hate-crimes laws. On television, that came through loud and clear. For most of the convention, it seemed is if the only ``minority'' agenda was one designed to please African Americans. When Lieberman spoke of tearing down walls "based on race, gender and sexual orientation," those of us who face walls based on ethnicity felt left out. Apparently, the Democrats thought that just showing they had a more diverse delegation -- about 10 percent Hispanic -- was enough to counteract the Republican "show" featuring a few Hispanic speakers. But where were the Latino leaders at the Democratic convention? Why weren't they pressuring their party to deal with Hispanic issues on the same scale, and at the same prime time, as African Americans? Why weren't immigration reform and bilingual education as important as affirmative action? The answer is blowing in the winds of history. African Americans know that protesting often get results. Latino leaders -- both Democrats and Republicans -- have a history of playing by the rules, waiting for political crumbs and being taken for granted. If the Democrats could get away with doing the same thing with African Americans, they would. But they wouldn't dare. Some black Democratic leaders are willing to put their party in jeopardy by causing a rift at the convention, because to them, their community is more important than their party. This is also true of some Latinos -- let's be fair. But there are times when they need to become a little more daring. This Democratic convention, coming after years of immigrant bashing by Republicans and after a superficial and self-preserving about-face at the GOP convention, was a missed opportunity for Latinos -- and for Democrats. This was the time to question the degree of the Republicans' newfound compassion and to challenge them with some hard questions: Would they support bilingual education, repeal English-only laws, allow census sampling results to be used to determine new political district lines, grant amnesty to some undocumented immigrants? But Latinos are not there yet, although this was the year when we were supposed to flex some political muscle. Unfortunately, both parties, and the Latino operatives within them, have chosen to approach the Hispanic community with much more rhetoric than substance, leaving Latino voters little reason to feel motivated to go out and vote for either candidate. For Republicans, the goal is clear. All they want is enough Latinos votes -- not even a majority -- to neutralize the potential Hispanic Democratic voting bloc that could swing the election in some key states. For Democrats, time is running out. If they keep playing it safe and avoiding controversial Latino issues, if Latino Democrats keep falling in line and waiting for crumbs, Bush will be our next president. Miguel Pérez is a columnist with The Record in northern New Jersey
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