VivirLatino

Democratic Presidential Wannabes (minus 1) Throw Latinos a few Bones

21:09 H | Topics: Miami - Politics - TV

Tonight's historic Spanish language presidential candidate forum sponsored by Univision, shown on Univision, and conducted by Univision news people, presented some dead on target questions but did it help Latino voters decide who they should choose? As an educated Latina voter, the forum helped solidify some of the nuanced differences between those running but it sure didn't make me want to run to the polls.

Primero, I have to call Univision out on their almost dictatorial control they need to have on events they sponsor. Why weren't other Latino journalists from outside the Univision school invited to question candidates? Why weren't Latino bloggers and other new media invited to participate the way bloggers participated in the Democratic All American Forum and will participate in the Republican All American Forum? I think Univision missed the ball here in reaching young Latino voters.

But, that said, Univision does get props for what was one of the more dynamic forums I've seen so far. The questions, especially the ones on the hot button immigration issues, were spot on and aimed at making some candidates uncomfortable. You had to love watching Dodd, Clinton, and Obama dance around why they supported the border wall between Mexico and the US. They all cited security, but as made clear in the question, that answer doesn't fly for Latino voters after all none of the 9-11-01 attackers came in through Mexico.

The simultaneous translation from English to Spanish did prove a little difficult to my bilingual code switching ears who tried to listen to both languages at the same time. Language was in fact a critical point of the forum. Bill Richardson, who loud and proud proclaimed (yet again) that he is the only Latino candidate running for president made a huge stink about not being able to answer in Spanish, when doing so would obviously give him a huge advantage. I know once I know someone speaks Spanish that I immediately defer to that language. It's a "you're my friend" kind of thing and I think his mini temper tantrum over the issue reflected poorly on him.

But the rest of the forum really was nothing more than a who loves Latinos more or who can be most Latino competition. Hillary Clinton was the first candidate to mention immigration when asked about her participation in this forum, knowing it would perk people's ears. Mike Gravel appealed to people's sense of just how hypocritical the immigration debate is and how Latinos are being used as cannon fodder in the Iraq war by bringing up the Soriano case. While all candidates pledged to deal with immigration reform within their first year in office, if they got to THE office, how they appealed to the Latino immigrant experience could only be described as hilarious. Barack Obama made sure to mention his own father coming from a small African village as well as making a Cesar Chavez Martin Luther King Jr. connection. Mike Gravel mentioned English not being his first language. Chris Dodd made it clear that he was a "friend to Mexico".

Chris Dodd, in my opinion, really got to the root of the immigration issue clearly when he stated that its the current free trade agreements and how they impact Latin American economies, that explains the growth in Latin American (documented or not) immigration in recent years.

Finally moving away from the immigration issue, no one dared to call Hugo Chavez a dictator. John Edwards did call him dangerous however. Mike Gravel was downright favorable towards Chavez pointing out that the CIA helped in a coup attempt against Chavez. Speaking of coups, Chris Dodd gets extra points for mentioning the U.S. under Nixon backed coup of Salvador Allende. Bill Richardson said that relations with Cuba could be normalized only if Fidel released political prisoners.

Latinos didn't hear anything new when it came to the stock issues of taxes, health care, and education (although Richardson said he was pro-bilingual ed).

All in all, sitting through the first half of the debate was an enjoyable experience, not because anything groundbreaking was said, but because it gave Latinos a better sense of how the candidates view us, as voters and even just as people all struggling in one way or another with the "American dream". And hey, while they may have pandered some, at least not one of them tried to salsa or sing a Mexican tune.

Image Via / Univision

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