Bay Area resident takes on tough job for GOP: attracting Latinos
Bay Area resident takes on tough job for GOP: attracting Latinos
By Matt O'Brien
mercurynews.
Posted: 02/27/2012 06:06:26 AM PST
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Bettina Inclán has one of the toughest jobs in American politics: peeling Latino voters away from President Barack Obama. But she's confident she can do it.
"Obama has made the job a little bit easier because of his failures," said the Los Gatos resident, repeating what will become a common Republican refrain through the fall election.
The Republican National Committee hired the 32-year-old political operative to be its national director of Hispanic outreach in early January, two months after she wrote in her blog: "In order for the GOP to win the White House, they need Latinos."
Inclán, Silicon Valley magnate Steve Poizner's spokeswoman during his 2010 gubernatorial campaign, is the daughter of a politically active Cuban-American mother and a Mexican-born father who only recently became a citizen. Inclán says Republicans can't afford to repeat what happened in 2008, when two out of three Latino voters picked Obama over Republican John McCain.
The last six weeks have been a whirlwind for Inclán: in-studio appearances on Fox News and MSNBC, as she delivers a constant stream of Twitter, Tumblr and text messages trumpeting the conservative cause and slamming Democrats for taking Latinos for granted. Next she will be visiting swing states where Latino voters could decide the presidency.
Focus on the economy
Inclán has tread carefully thus far, exuding a friendly face
of the GOP to skeptical Latinos, but avoiding any opinions that could put her at odds with the eventual Republican nominee. She veers away from talking about illegal-immigration policy, insisting the issue is far less important to Latinos than the economy. And she focuses on what she says are Obama's broken promises to Latinos.
"Hispanic unemployment has increased, Hispanic poverty has increased," she said. "They feel the economic downturn has impacted them the most."
Friends and family members describe her as a professional campaign operative chosen as much for her savvy pragmatism as her personable demeanor.
"She's instantly likeable," said Democratic activist Alicia Menendez. "She is razor-sharp and funny and self-deprecating and easygoing, but she knows how to throw elbows when it's important to throw elbows."
Several months before Inclán began her new role last month at the RNC, Menendez, the daughter of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., asked her to co-host a new SiriusXM satellite show on Cristina Radio called "Power Play." Since January, the two women from opposite sides of the political spectrum have debated each other and interviewed guests twice a week.
"They were looking for a Hispanic Republican female under the age of 35 with campaign experience," and that's "a very small pool of people," she added.
Inclán, a Florida native, grew up immersed in Miami politics. Her family's activism extends back generations. She worked on campaigns in Florida and in the nation's capital before moving to the Bay Area three years ago to work for Poizner, then the state insurance commissioner.
Poizner, a Los Gatos resident who turned illegal immigration into a fiery issue in the 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary, lost to free-spending billionaire Meg Whitman, who lost the general election to Jerry Brown. That same year, Inclán returned to Florida to help elect Rick Scott governor.
Inclán's significance in the presidential race is likely to depend on which Republican candidate gets picked to run against Obama.
"Someone like Bettina can play as big a role as the party allows her to have," Menendez said. With "a mega-budget and authority to call the shots, she can make a change. Someone with just a title can't do very much."
Before landing the RNC job, Inclán had blogged that the tone of the illegal-immigration debate "has dictated how many Latino voters perceive a candidate, especially Republican candidates." The reality, she said, "is we need to find a middle ground between a blanket amnesty and forced mass deportation."
'Little idiosyncrasies'
One of Inclán's most consistent messages -- that Latinos are a diverse community and shouldn't be pigeonholed -- is one she learned at a young age, says her mom.
"Many times people try to throw all Hispanics in one pot and we're definitely a big salad bowl," said Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, who recalls how she would drag her young daughter to political and cultural events across ethnically diverse South Florida in the 1990s.
"She's lived that multicultural life," her mother said. "She understands those little idiosyncrasies."
A staunch Republican activist whose family escaped from Communist Cuba when she was a girl, Rodriguez Aguilera ran for state office in Florida and has been active in Cuban refugee advocacy and other civic causes. She is now running for City Council in the affluent Miami suburb of Doral.
Inclán's father, a retired bus driver and factory worker, grew up in Tlalixcoyan, in the state of Veracruz in Mexico. After becoming a citizen a few years ago, he registered as an independent and voted for the first time in 2010.
Both parents are frugal, religious and conservative -- traits Inclán says align them with many Latino families.
"Let's just say I had a chaperone until I was 18. I had a curfew," she said. "When I'm perplexed, my dad tells me to pray."
A trip to New York over the weekend to take her baseball-loving father on a tour of Yankee Stadium may be her last break in a long time. Now basically living out of a suitcase, Inclán has already postponed her wedding to fellow GOP activist Jarrod Agen, who was the Poizner campaign's communications director. He proposed in December.
Why wait until after the 2012 presidential election?
Replied Inclán with a laugh:
"So I can enjoy everything about getting married, take a honeymoon and not worry that the world's going to end because I can't be reached on my BlackBerry."
Bettina Inclán
Age: 32
Home: Los Gatos
Job: Director of Hispanic outreach for Republican National Committee; co-host of "Power Play" on Cristina Radio on SiriusXM.
Political experience: Worked on gubernatorial campaigns of Rick Scott in Florida and Steve Poizner in California. Former communications director at Citizens in Charge Foundation, which focuses on ballot initiatives. Ex-director of Republican National Hispanic Assembly.
Quote: "I remember being a child (in Miami) and handing out fliers. Being of Cuban descent, I think you understand the importance of having a voice in politics and being politically active because in some countries you don't have that option."
Bay Area resident takes on tough job for GOP: attracting Latinos - San Jose Mercury News
WHO Gives a RAT's Behind...
Really, I could SMACK the person who said "Hispanic unemployment increased, Poverty Increased" "Impacted Hispanics the most"
Did the ILLEGALS give 2 craps how THEIR Illegal Entry would Impact Americans and Create Poverty and Joblessness for Americans, and RAPE America's budget while Supporting them and their children!!
They Wave their country Flags, Protest Americans who KNOW its time that they FINALLY face the LAW & Consequenses for their Criminal Actions...But they want Sympathy???
Gota be a Joke...We must be on Punk'd
