Thread: Courting Hispanic Vote in California: All Crime not Equal!

Tan Nguyen is running for the U.S. House in California’s 47th Congressional District. He is running as a Republican in opposition to the incumbent, Democrat Loretta Sanchez.

The novice Republican apparently made a mistake by sending a letter, or causing his campaign to send a letter, to Hispanics warning that those in America illegally or immigrants could be jailed or deported for voting.

Go here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061019/ap_ ... ing_threat

Nguyen’s letter would have been perfectly fine had it mentioned only illegal aliens. Unfortunately, the letter lumped illegal aliens and immigrants together and appeared to warn Hispanics of the severe consequences of “voting while Brown.”

Mind you, Nguyen is justified in being very concerned about votes being cast by illegal aliens. In 1996, former Congressman Bob Dornan lost his seat to Loretta Sanchez by just 984 votes. Dornan alleged that his loss was due to votes cast by Hispanic illegal aliens.

Nguyen has paid a heavy price for his ill-begotten campaign letter. The FBI raided his headquarters and California Republican leaders asked him to abandon his campaign. Both Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger and challenger Phil Angelides denounced the letter as a “hate crime.”

All in all, not a good campaign strategery for the immigrant from Viet Nam as it turns out.


However, one does not need to go back too far in history to find an equally bone-headed mistake involving Hispanics and voting in California. In fact, just this past summer, Democrat candidate Francine Busby advised an audience of Spanish speakers that “You don't need papers for voting, you don't need to be a registered voter to help.”

Go here: http://www.soundpolitics.com/archives/006284.html

While Busby’s remarks got wide media attention, the FBI was not called in and Democrat leadership did not desert the Mensa-adverse Busby. The mainstream media did not go into integrity shock.

All in all, the liberal reaction was guarded hypocrisy.


Why the difference, one wonders, between the treatment afforded Nguyen and Busby?

The answer, of course, is that one is a Republican and the other is a Democrat. One is running against a Hispanic, the other was running against an evil Caucasian and, even worse, a Republican.

All of which proves that courting the Hispanic vote in California can be very hazardous—and that all crime is not equal!

The difference is that one was voter-intimidation and the other was not, even if it was questionable.

Nguyen is just too much of a political newbie to understand the terrain of either American politics and more importantly California politics. At best he was ballsy to attack immigrants, legal and otherwise, as an immigrant himself; at worst, he's a complete idiot.

I don't understand why he some of these Republican candidates don't have decent aids from party HQ. I suppose his was a lost cause. The whole thing makes Republicans in California look cheap. Republicans should be able to run on real principles alone and win the day.

The difference is that one was voter-intimidation and the other was not, even if it was questionable.

How did this intimidate anyone allowed to vote? Is there a law against making persons aware of the law?

Illegal aliens "undocumented immigrants" are not allowed to vote.
Legal aliens "documented immigrants" are not allowed to vote.
Citizens by birth or naturalization are allowed to vote.

Add to this that there seem to be errors in translation, disputes over semantics, and dispute over whether this candidate even authorized or was involved in the transmittal of this letter in Spanish, which he doesn't speak, and voter-intimidation charges are premature. Seems like you're a bit quick to accept the "verdict" of the MSM.

Tan is getting the crap end of the stick. Busby should have been charged w/ promoting illegal activities by encouraging illegals to vote, but nothing happened to her (besides she lost) where as the FBI seizes Tan's stuff?
That is outrageous.

Tan may be a "political" newbie, but the politics in general sucks to begin with. Tan obviously seems to be in touch with the true meaning and purpose of being elected a public servant. Most elected officials can't say that.

Originally Posted by loservillelabor

The difference is that one was voter-intimidation and the other was not, even if it was questionable.

How did this intimidate anyone allowed to vote? Is there a law against making persons aware of the law?

Illegal aliens "undocumented immigrants" are not allowed to vote.
Legal aliens "documented immigrants" are not allowed to vote.
Citizens by birth or naturalization are allowed to vote.

You're missing the nuance here. One can legally immigrate to the U.S. and then become a U.S. citizen. These people, and they are a sizeable contingent in California, are both immigrants and allowed to vote. The contention, whether you believe it or not, is that these fliers represented intimidation of this legal block of U.S. voters. That is why the FBI was involved.

Just because you become naturalized does not mean you are no longer are an immigrant. Such a person is always an immigrant because they have origins in another country. That is the technical meaning of immigrant in either English or Spanish.

Originally Posted by Alia_of_the_knife

The difference is that one was voter-intimidation and the other was not, even if it was questionable.

Nguyen is just too much of a political newbie to understand the terrain of either American politics and more importantly California politics. At best he was ballsy to attack immigrants, legal and otherwise, as an immigrant himself; at worst, he's a complete idiot.

I don't understand why he some of these Republican candidates don't have decent aids from party HQ. I suppose his was a lost cause. The whole thing makes Republicans in California look cheap. Republicans should be able to run on real principles alone and win the day.

You are not against the illegals at all. I think you are Ramon from Usenet and if you are then I know you and so do others. You hate white people and love the illegals and this country. I am watching you and I have seen you post nothing except things against people in this forum.

GQ

You're missing the nuance here."

It appears that YOU are missing the nuance. In my article, I clearly stated that by lumping illegal aliens and immigrants together, Ngyuen made a mistake. An awful error in strategy is what it was.

What you are dismissing as merely "questionable" is a ploy by a candidate to secure illegal votes.

How is that any less onerous than "intimidation?" Both are disgraceful, but Busby did not receive the sanctions that Ngyuen did.

All ballots cast for Busby should have been impouned and verified. The fact that she lost is irrelevant--she was engaged in an attempt to diminish the integrity of our democratic rule of law!

Originally Posted by GraphicQueen

Originally Posted by Alia_of_the_knife

The difference is that one was voter-intimidation and the other was not, even if it was questionable.

Nguyen is just too much of a political newbie to understand the terrain of either American politics and more importantly California politics. At best he was ballsy to attack immigrants, legal and otherwise, as an immigrant himself; at worst, he's a complete idiot.

I don't understand why he some of these Republican candidates don't have decent aids from party HQ. I suppose his was a lost cause. The whole thing makes Republicans in California look cheap. Republicans should be able to run on real principles alone and win the day.

You are not against the illegals at all. I think you are Ramon from Usenet and if you are then I know you and so do others. You hate white people and love the illegals and this country. I am watching you and I have seen you post nothing except things against people in this forum.

GQ

If you'd like I will respond to something on topic.

I am against illegal immigration. The integrity of our Republic demands that we uphold the laws passed by our legally-elected bodies.

I will not waste my time playing games. These are real times and real problems and little boys and girls should get out my way.

There was nothing intimidating at all in that letter and any person that thinks so is not against illegals at all.

I am not playing games either Ramon so stop it with your lies and such.

GQ

Integrity in our voting system is of utmost importance. Nobody who has a legal right to vote should be intimidated or discouraged from doing so. And people who do not have a legal right to vote should not be voting. We can all agree on that.

If that letter was worded in a way that would have caused confusion amongst people who were eligible to vote, then it was wrong.

However, there is one thing that comes to my mind. The pro-illegals are constantly substituting the word "immigrant" instead of using the correct terminology which is "illegal alien." But, now they are all bent out of shape because "immigrant" was used. I find that somewhat ironic.