‘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.”

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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.

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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 …

Alex Castellanos is a Cuban-American advisor and senior media strategist in Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. Castellanos talks about the Nevada results, looks ahead to Florida and takes a few gentle jabs at Rudy Giuliani.

In Nevada, the exit polls indicated Romney had a very high percentage of support among Latino voters. How much of that is the result of the campaign’s Hispanic media outreach? How much of that is just Romney the candidate?

The governor’s had a very strong media outreach to Hispanic voters all across the country and a website in Spanish, but I’d say most of it is just the governor’s message. Mitt Romney is the candidate of optimism and opportunity in this race and I think that he makes you feel that there isn’t any challenge that America and Americans can’t meet. And I think that for the Hispanic community, so many of us who have come here for that opportunity, that’s what we want to see in a candidate.

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From our Florida correspondent, Kirk Nielsen:

With the four main contenders for the Republican presidential nomination all vying for Florida’s crucial Cuban-American voters, each is looking for a way to distinguish himself. All of them have bashed Fidel Castro and Cuba’s dictatorial system. But even Democratic candidates have done that.

Rudy Giuliani has distinguished himself by supporting calls for federal indictments of Fidel and Raul Castro for the shoot-down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996 as they flew over international waters, resulting in the deaths of four anti-Castro activists. This would represent a departure from Bush Administration’s stance. Giuliani has logged more appearances in Miami’s Cuban-American sectors than any of rivals; earlier this month he made stops in Hialeah and Little Havana while his rivals concentrated on earlier primary states.

Beyond the indictment, Giuliani’s Cuba policy platform relies on his claims to having a long-standing loyalty to the anti-Castro cause. He repeatedly cites the same two examples. As New York mayor in 1995 he excluded Fidel Castro from the guest list of a dinner for international dignitaries attending 50th anniversary celebrations for the United Nations. And, a year later he supported changing the name of a street in front of UN headquarters to Brothers to the Rescue Avenue. Giuliani spent last week trying to rally non-Hispanic backers in central and northern Florida. He heads south again this week. Read more …

A whopping 64 percent of Nevada Latino Democrat caucus-goers supported Hillary Clinton, according to a Cable News Network entrance poll. Barack Obama mustered only 24 percent of Latino voters despite having the backing of the local 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union (CWU), which is 45 percent Hispanic. The Illinois senator’s poor showing means his campaign will have to redouble its Hispanic voter outreach efforts ahead of February 5th when primaries will be held in such heavily Latino states such as Arizona, California, Colorado and New York.

The Nevada Democratic Caucus was the very first electoral battleground where Latino voters mattered. And the first reality check of several nationwide polls that late last year demonstrated overwhelming national support among Latino Democrats for Clinton over Obama.

The Illinois senator’s campaign did not rely solely on the CWU endorsement for its Hispanic voter outreach efforts. Obama went canvassing in heavily Latino neighborhoods. He chanted ¡Sí se puede! and brought in Latino elected officials such as California State Senator Gil Cedillo and Illinois congressman Luis Gutiérrez. The latter recorded a Spanish-language video explaining the Nevada caucus process. And the Obama campaign advertised on Spanish-language radio and television while also ensuring a presence on local Spanish-language newscasts. In many ways, it was a by-the-book Hispanic political marketing effort emphasizing a positive and even uplifting message about Obama.

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