Thread: NY Mayor & His Rivals Learn Spanish To Reach Latino Vote

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Mayor and his rivals learn Spanish to reach Latino voters

By SARA KUGLER
Associated Press Writer
May 28, 2005, 11:58 AM EDT


NEW YORK -- When you're running for mayor, it helps to be a smooth talker. But now, there's a new twist _ for the tongue.

The competition for Latino voters is so fierce among Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the four Democrats vying to unseat him that the candidates are stammering to speak Spanish on the campaign trail, some having never spoken a word before.

"I'm not very good," admits Anthony Weiner, a U.S. congressman from Brooklyn who hired a tutor last year. Weiner's last encounter with a Spanish textbook had been in junior high school.

In this city with more than 2.1 million Hispanics, multiple Spanish-language television stations and several Spanish daily newspapers, the candidates are literally struggling to explain themselves, nearly every day.

"You could always communicate nuances much better in a tongue you're comfortable in," says Weiner, 39. "But for someone like me who probably will never be fluent in Spanish, it is to symbolically express respect for their culture and their language, and also to show that you're trying."

Sometimes, things get lost in translation.

At a recent news conference with Bloomberg, a reporter unexpectedly flung a question at the mayor in Spanish, asking how long he's been studying the language.

The 63-year-old former CEO from Massachusetts tried his best, answering: "Una hora y media, cada dia," which translates to "an hour and a half each day."

Learning a new tongue at this stage of life is a growing trend in politics, from local campaigns to the White House, as politicians recognize the undeniable power of the country's largest minority group. Last year's Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said he learned Spanish from audiotapes, and on Capitol Hill, lawmakers gather weekly for language classes.

Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, who was a political newcomer like Bloomberg, learned Spanish before he went into politics and ended up defeating his Hispanic opponent, City Auditor Don Mares.

Bloomberg began lessons four years ago, during his first campaign for City Hall in 2001. New to both politics and Spanish, he was eager to learn _ especially when it came to memorizing verbs, says his former teacher.

"Age has a lot to do with it; it's harder the older you are, but he was very good," said Juan Carlos Ayarza, who has also taught Ruth Messinger, the former Manhattan borough president.

Ayarza occasionally accompanied Bloomberg to campaign events where he might need to speak Spanish, like the raucous Puerto Rican Day parade or more intimate gatherings like a Colombian festival in Queens.

Bloomberg works with a different tutor now, reportedly every morning. He often sprinkles his speeches with Spanish phrases, although observers say he needs to work on his accent.

City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, a Democrat who was also a beginner when he began working with a Spanish tutor last year, likes to show off his language skills in song _ particularly the Puerto Rican national anthem, "La Borinquena," which he belted out last week at a senior center in Queens.

When singing isn't appropriate, Miller prepares a few sentences in Spanish, but says he hasn't achieved his goal _ to understand and answer questions in Spanish, both from reporters and average New Yorkers.

"It's important to be able to communicate as best as possible, so I make an effort at it," says Miller, 35. "I wish I spoke it better ... that's why I'm careful about what I say."

The candidates all say they struggle with verb tenses and vocabulary, so it's better to play it safe with stiffer-sounding constructions like "I run for mayor," than risk saying something stupid.

The candidate with the bilingual edge is Fernando Ferrer, a former Bronx borough president who grew up speaking both Spanish and English.

At campaign events and news conferences, Ferrer, whose father was born in Puerto Rico, frequently repeats his comments for the Spanish media. His staff says he is often approached by Latinos who want to chat in their native tongue.

But still, the 55-year-old Ferrer says the language is "part of who I am and it's a part of what this city is, so I don't brandish it as a political weapon."

In the 2001 mayoral race, Ferrer received more than 80 percent of the Hispanic vote in the runoff for the Democratic primary. He lost the nomination but has maintained a considerable base among Hispanic voters.

A fourth Democratic candidate, C. Virginia Fields, is making an aggressive play for that bloc, especially Dominicans.

Fields, 58, studied Spanish in high school and college, but isn't comfortable speaking it on the campaign trail, said her spokesman, Nick Charles. She would like to squeeze in a review session, if she can find the time.

A Quinnipiac University poll this month showed Bloomberg suffers low approval ratings among Hispanic voters _ just 30 percent said they were impressed with the job he was doing, compared with 54 percent of whites.

The poll was conducted before Bloomberg released the first television advertisement of his campaign _ targeted toward Hispanics. The ad features Bloomberg speaking entirely in Spanish, mixed with shots of him interacting with schoolchildren and people on the street.

If I had a choice between Bloomberg and a sack of manure, I would select the manure. It would be more useful.

Dataman, what an insult to the sack of manure to compare it to a NY politician. What suckups.

NOTE: NY allows the ILLEGALS to drive w/licenses

Want to GUESS WHO'LL BE VOTING???