DNC Chair Woos Hispanics in South Texas

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DNC Chair Woos Hispanics in South Texas


Friday, August 05, 2005 5:59 p.m. ET
By LYNN BREZOSKY Associated Press Writer
EDINBURG, Texas (AP) -- Democratic Party leader Howard Dean kicked off a weekend of wooing Hispanics in South Texas on Friday, saying Democrats would welcome immigrants and recognize Hispanics as the key to the party's future.

"South Texas has been so good to the Democratic Party. I think it's about time we were good to South Texas," Dean, the Democratic National Committee chairman, said at a rally in Edinburg, a city just a few miles north of the Mexican border and more than 80 percent Mexican-American.

The former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential hopeful, continuing his 50-state tour with the rally, was next headed to the weekend-long DNC Hispanic Summit in San Antonio.

He joined students, senior citizens and local politicians with chants of "Si, se puede," a Spanish political phrase that means, "Yes, you can."

Dean drew the strongest applause when he said Republicans would make immigration a pivotal issue during upcoming elections, as they did gay marriage and affirmative action in previous elections.

"Do you know who the scapegoats are going to be? Immigrants," he said. "In Colorado, the chairman of the Republican party endorsed Tom Tancredo for re-election. That is morally reprehensible. The governor of California, a supposed moderate Republican, invited the Minutemen to visit California. We do not need vigilante justice."

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo has drawn the ire of Hispanic groups for his rally for tougher immigration enforcement and a proposal to tax some of the money immigrants send home.

While California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has reached out to the civilian border watch group known as the Minutemen, some South Texas representatives have said the group was not wanted in the region, where many families span both sides of the border.

Hollis Rutledge, chairman of the Hidalgo County Republican Party, said Dean's visit illustrates the inroads Republicans have made with Hispanic voters.

"One day of Republican-bashing won't make up for years of taking Hispanics for granted, and it cannot hide the fact that the Republican Party best represents the views and values of Hispanic Texans," Rutledge said.

Dean slammed President Bush for "turning his back on (Mexican President) Vicente Fox" when Fox did not agree with Bush on the Iraq war.

"A strong Mexico means a strong America, and our ties must not be based on the petulance of the president of the United States," Dean said.

He said Thursday that the national tour was aimed at boosting party morale after a disappointing election and at laying groundwork for the future. He said Republican gains among Hispanic voters _ nearly 10 percent of the Hispanic vote went to President Bush _ had not gone unnoticed.

"We are doing whatever it takes to reach out to the Hispanic community around the country," he said. "While we won 60 percent of the vote in the Hispanic community, that's not enough for us. We want to win more."

Annie Saldivar, a 22-year-old student at the University of Texas-Pan American, said she had voted Republican in the 2004 presidential election. However, she said she would vote Democratic next time because she was disillusioned by Bush. She said she was moved by Dean's visit.

"It was really inspirational," she said. "It makes you think there's someone out there to speak just for you."

The Rio Grande Valley is a region where people say they vote Democrat by family tradition, where poverty is rampant and a United Farm Workers endorsement holds tremendous sway. A Republican has never been elected to a countywide office in Edinburg's Hidalgo County.

"You hear an awful lot of talk recently about each party trying to play to its base," UTPA political scientist Jerry Polinard said. "We're not just the strongest Democratic region in the state, we're arguably the strongest Democratic region in the nation."

Republicans are clearly after the Latino vote, he said.

DNC spokesman Luis Miranda said the party in 2004 tried to focus on the battleground states but now realizes the strategy has to change.

"We have to show up everywhere," he said. "We're not taking any vote for granted."

Nothing wrong at all wooing Hispanic AMERICAN Citizens, by either party, but woo the illegals and cater to their illegal agenda, and the wrath of American will fall on your HEAD, Mr. Dean....so my advice is:

Watch Your Woos, Mr. Dean, 'Cuz We're Watching You Woo!! You try to get illegal voters to the polls, and you'll be countin' and re-countin' and re-countin' and re-countin until the cows come home. (and we'll have cows locked up in another barn)!!

:wink: