Latino Voter Profile

‘I, Too, Sing America’

This is the second in an occasional series of profiles of individual Latino voters. The profiles are meant to provide a glimpse into the life and politics of a given individual. None of these individuals are meant to be stand-ins for a specific class of Hispanic voters. The format is “as told to” whereby the entire article consists of quotations from the person interviewed. This ensures the subject’s voice comes through loud and clear.

Today’s Latino Voter Profile is Dana Ramos who works as an executive assistant at an HSBC office in Nevada. Ramos was two years old when her mother took her from Mexico to Las Vegas. The entire interview was conducted in English on Saturday night following the Nevada Caucus.

As told to CandidatoUSA editor Luis Clemens by Dana Ramos:

“My mom came with a visa and luckily Immigration never asked for any of my paperwork or anything. I crossed the border and waved goodbye to the immigration officials.

“We’ve been here ever since. My family’s whole plan was to work here to take money back to Mexico but we ended up staying here. When my brother was born, my parents thought ‘maybe it would be good to stay so the children can learn English and then we’ll go back.’

“I didn’t become legalized until Ronald Reagan passed his amnesty, and if it wasn’t for him I still would have been illegal. Or undocumented I should say. I don’t like it when people say illegal.”

Read more …

The Cuba Obsession

For a quarter century, Cuban-American voters in South Florida have been courted by a string of Republican candidates. The traditional playbook calls for all presidential aspirants to secure the endorsement of a prominent Cuban-American politician. Said elected official then accompanies the would-be Commander-in-Chief on a visit to a Cuban restaurant. The contender touts his anti-Castro credentials to assorted local Spanish-language media outlets, preferably while drinking high-octane Cuban coffee in front of the assembled cameras.

Last week, Senator McCain visited Little Havana’s Versailles Café where Representatives Lincoln and Mario Díaz-Balart spoke on his behalf. Also last week, McCain’s campaign placed a heavy-handed ad on local Spanish-language radio stations, which argued “Only one candidate has been a prisoner of war in communist jails - Senator John McCain. He is intimately familiar with the cruelty of communism, the way in which opponents are tortured and the most basic human rights are violated. ” The announcer goes on to describe all eleven million residents of Cuba as “political prisoners”

“Castro’s worse nightmare” is what Mel Martínez, the senator from Florida, last Friday called his Arizona colleague.” It was one of the principal reasons the Cuban American Martínez cited for endorsing McCain’s candidacy. So, Martínez’s endorsement may dent Rudy Giuliani’s large and longstanding support in the Cuban American community.

Read more …

Miami’s Not Just For Cuban Voters Anymore

From our Florida correspondent, Kirk Nielsen:

After Tuesday’s Florida primary, students of Latino electoral politics will want to know how each Republican candidate fared among Cuban-American voters. But how non-Cuban Hispanics cast their ballots could also be significant, especially if there’s a close finish, which has been known to happen in Florida.

“It is essential for candidates campaigning in Florida to demonstrate that they have a thorough understanding of Cuba-related issues, without pandering to the Cuban-American community,” says Carlos Curbelo, a Miami-based political strategist once on Fred Thompson’s payroll and now volunteering for John McCain.

But what about demonstrating savvy on issues of importance to the increasing numbers of non-Cuban Latinos in Florida? U.S. Census data indicates that the Cuban portion of South Florida’s Hispanic population has dropped below 50 percent. According to a study last year by Nielsen Media Research, folks of Cuban origin constitute 45 percent of Spanish-language television viewers in the Miami market.

That means more than half are non-Cuban Hispanics: roughly 14 percent are Puerto Rican, 8 percent Colombian, 6 percent Dominican, 6 percent Nicaraguan, 4 percent Venezuelan, 3 percent Mexican, 3 percent Peruvian, and all other Latinos less numerous. Read more …