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Este informe no está disponible en español. POLITICO MEDIA ENTERPRISESLieberman Wins Praise From Latinos, Even As His Affirmative Action Stance Is Scrutinizedby James E. GarciaSeptember, 2000 There is no easy way to define Joe Lieberman's politics. The Democratic vice presidential candidate doesn't fit neatly into any one political box. He's been roasted for his controversial stance against affirmative action and toasted for his voting record on issues important to Latinos. And during his career, Lieberman has been labeled as everything from a flaming liberal for backing hate crimes legislation to being a right-wing conservative for criticizing Hollywood and the music industry. The Democratic Party's image-crafters, meanwhile, would have us believe that the U.S. Senator from Connecticut is the quintessential "centrist" or "new Democrat" -- the implication being that Lieberman is perfectly suited for "middle America" and its growing bounty of independent voters. The modern-day version of middle America, of course, includes the substantial and growing Latino swing vote. So far, most Latino leaders seem to regard Lieberman as a welcome addition to the Democratic ticket led by Al Gore. Earlier this year, the nonpartisan National Hispanic Leadership Agenda issued its "Congressional Scorecard" that gave Lieberman a 100 percent rating -- meaning that he sided with the organization on each of its major issues of concern in the U.S. Senate. The group, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of 27 national Latino organizations, critiques the voting records of all Congressional members and issues an annual report. Lieberman, in fact, scored higher on the NHLA report card this year than several Latino members of Congress. Democratic Congressmen Xavier Becerra of California and Ed Pastor of Arizona, for instance, each received 91 percent ratings, while Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Congressman, received a 9 percent rating. To earn his perfect rating, Lieberman voted against last year's Republican tax cut proposal that NHLA members claimed would provide "major tax reductions for the wealthy and virtually nothing for working class and low-income families." He also supported a failed proposal to increase the minimum wage to $6.15, which NHLA says would benefit the "Latino working poor." In addition, Lieberman backed the controversial nomination of Judge Richard A. Paez to serve on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. President Clinton accused Republican leaders in the Senate of refusing to grant Paez a confirmation hearing, delaying his apppointment the Ninth Circuit and earning him the dubious distinction of having to wait longer than anyone in the past 100 years to have his nomination confirmed. Lieberman also supports the nomination of Texas judge Enrique Moreno to the federal bench. Despite receiving consistently high ratings from the liberal-leaning NHLA, Lieberman has never been shy about displaying his moderate to conservative side. Lieberman, for instance, supports experimenting with taxpayer-funded, private school voucher programs. This, despite Gore's adament opposition to such initiatives. Most Latino leaders nationally also oppose voucher programs, though the idea has significant support among Latino voters -- many of whom are desperate for ways to get their children into schools away from the barrios. Gore and other critics of publicly-financed voucher programs say they would drain revenue from public schools. They also note that private school operators can refuse any student they don't want, unlike public schools that are obligated to teach all children. The worry is that special education students and even immigrant children might be wrongly turned away from private schools. Proponents argue that distributing vouchers would boost the quality of all education overall by forcing public school systems to compete for students. Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney, support vouchers. Lieberman's stance on affirmative action also has drawn scrutiny -- and even some harsh criticism -- over the years. In March of 1995, Lieberman was quoted as saying that anti-affirmative action is inherently unfair. Commenting on California's Proposition 209 that banned affirmative action programs in that state, Lieberman said, "I can't see how I could be opposed to it. It's based on American values...You can't defend policies that are based on group preferences as opposed to individual opportunities, which is what America has always been about." Lieberman's comments so infuriated the Rev. Jesse Jackson, president of the National Rainbow Coalition, that he held a rally in New Haven, Conn. to protest the senator's remarks. The rally also included local minority leaders, such as Tomas Reyes, then president of the New Haven Board of Alderman and Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization of Women. Soon after Jackson's rally, Lieberman published an editorial in the New Haven Register newspaper detailing his position on affirmative action. "I am committed, as are the vast majority of Americans, to ensuring equal opportunity for every American," Lieberman wrote. He added that while some affirmative action programs have worked, "Other programs may have harmed racial relations more than they have helped..." Lieberman didn't specify which programs had been harmful. In the same article, Lieberman stated, "Any time you are discriminating in favor of one group of Americans, you are necessarily discriminating against another group of Americans." Dagoberto Vega, a spokesman for the Gore-Lieberman campaign this week, said, "Like many other Democrats, Lieberman did raise questions (in 1995) about the future of affirmative action and its effectiveness." That year, President Clinton ordered a review of federal affirmative action programs to determine their fairness as part of his "mend it, don't end it" approach the initiatives first implemented by the Nixon administration in the early 1970s. Ultimately, Lieberman publicly opposed Proposition 209 and has since voted against efforts to eliminate federal affirmative action programs, according to Vega. Jackson has even forgiven him. In a statement released this week, Jackson praised Gore for picking Lieberman, the first Jew to run for vice president. Jackson called Lieberman's selection "a bold decision" and an example of how "affirmative action has broken the cycle of exclusion, negative action or no-consideration." Lieberman also has the support of leading Latino leaders in Connecticut, including State Rep. Johnny Martinez. In a telephone interview, Martinez, one of five Latino legislators in the Connecticut House of Representatives, said Latino leaders in the state have had good relations with Lieberman. "Joe is a guy with a lot of integrity," said Martinez, adding that Lieberman is "the kind of guy who's more of centrist Democrat who appeals to both sides of the aisle." As for Leiberman's stance on affirmative action, Martinez said he could live with it given that it's Gore, not Lieberman, who is running for president. Even Gov. Bush has had nice things to say about Lieberman. "Joe Lieberman is a man praised by people from both sides of the aisle,'' the Texas governor told reporters during a two-day train trip in California. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seconded Bush's comments today in an interview with CNN. As compared to Cheney, Bush's vice presidential running mate, Lieberman is a far better choice, according to Brent Wilkes, executive director of LULAC, the nation's oldest Latino advocacy organization. Wilkes points out that during his stint in Congress Cheney opposed increased funding for Head Start, the federally funded preschool program, which benefits millions of Latino children. Cheney has also voted against expanding affirmative action programs. Larry Gonzalez, a spokesman for NALEO, whose members include Latino elected and appointed officials nationwide, said Lieberman's religious faith might actually help Gore among Latinos. "I think that he really brings a certain appeal to Latinos," said Gonzalez, "because (Lieberman) is a religious man. It's something different and beyond the good old boy network. The fact that this is breaking new ground in terms of him being the first Jewish vice presidential candidate, in a certain sense it gives hope to minority communities that our time will be coming soon." Garcia is editor and publisher of politicomagazine.com. E-mail the writer at Politico1@aol.com.
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