In our fourth story,
the latest is a voter suppression effort,
a political advertisement that encourages Latino voters
not to vote.
The Republican 527 group responsible for it called Latinos for Rich Republicans
oh, IÔm sorry, thatÔs Latinos for Reform, had purchased an $80,000
ad from Univision.
But Univision has now refused to air it. Quoting, a Univision spokesperson,
ÒUnivision will not be running any spots from Latinos for Reform related to voting.
Univision prides itself on promoting
ivic engagement and our extensive national campaigns
encourage Hispanics to vote.Ó
But the ad from the conservative 527 group encourages just the opposite.
Here's the end of the English version.
DonÔt vote this November
This is the only way to send them a clear message.
You can no longer take us for granted. DonÔt vote.
The Spanish version of the ad was intended to sway Nevada Latinos not to vote.
Gee, I wonder why they donÔt want Latinos voting. Could it be because the Republican Party
has lost the Latino vote?
If theyÔre not going to vote for you, make sure they donÔt vote at all
classy strategy.
But the man behind the ad, the conservative political consultant,
Robert De Posada,
has said that thisÑhas said this about Republican senatorial candidate
Sharron Angle.
Quote, ÒI canÔt ask people to support a Republican candidate who has taken a completely
rresponsible and bordering on racist position
on immigration.Ó
But funny enough, the ad shows nothing
but DemocratsÑand not just the Nevada candidate, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
but also President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
Congresswoman
Maxine WatersÑI donÔt know what sheÔs doing in a Nevada ad
and California Senator Barbara Boxer.
Mr. De Posada
is connected with a host of conservative or Republican causes.
He was co-director on Americans
for Border and Economic Security with Dick Armey.
He served as director of Hispanic affairs at the RNC.
And Latinos for Reform also shares an address,
a post office box,
with Susan Arceneaux,
one of the people
behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
That organization you may recall was the one that trashed
2004 presidential candidate John Kerry with lies about his service in Vietnam.
But Mr. De Posada
claims that there is no connection.
Of course not.
In 2008, he says,
Because the laws were so strange, we hired a political compliance company
that handled our reporting and accounting.Ó
Well, that was Arceneaux.
And during that time, Swift Vote Veterans for Truth
used her P.O. box, he says.
What a wonderful coincidence!
Now, letÔs bring in the director for immigration and national campaigns for the National Council
of La Raza,
Clarissa Martinez. Thank you for your time tonight.
Thank you for having me.
All right. Let me start with thisÑis it a good idea if you want political power in this country
to not vote?
Absolutely not. ItÔs clear to all of us that the only way you can make is
to stand up and be counted. Not only
are efforts to tell anyone
to stay home
un-American, but we have to acknowledge that too many people fought too hard
and too long
to give the rest of us the right to vote, no matter what gender, ethnicity, or race you are.
So thereÔs no other word to describe an effort that attempts to have voters stay home
than un-American.
All right. Now, do you think thereÔs any chances of real frustration from
the Democratic side or any side?
That says, hey, wait a minute now, the Democrats didn't deliver, so maybe we should sit this one out?
Or do you think itÔs just a Republican
trick here to make sure Latinos donÔt vote?
Look, there is no question Latino voters, like many other Americans, are frustrated with
lack of progress on a number of issues. Where it comes to immigration, in particular,
given the promises from the president, the number of deportations that are splitting
families apart, we are frustrated and we want Democrats to push harder.
But frankly, as a community, we have also seen
a united brick wall on the Republican side when in the past, there used
to be collaboration and bipartisan work.
We believe
that in order for us to make progress, we have to hold
and keep the pressure on both parties.
Staying home is not going to do that.
And so, what do you do, though?
Because thatÔs a tricky question. Now, if you think you've lost the Republicans
and theyÔre not voting in your interestsÑif you think that
and the Democrats are not pushing forward
well, how do you push them? How to you make change happen?
Well, the first thing I should say, in regard to this particular episode regarding Nevada,
is that frankly, if you wanted to tap Latino frustration over lack of progress
on immigration,
itÔs just ludicrous that you would run
this ad
in that state. After all, Harry Reid, there are plenty of Democrats out there who might
be sitting on the sidelines on this issue, but Harry Reid is not one of them.
If you have a bone to pick with him on his positions, you should do so, but thatÔs not what this
ad is doing.
And in order toÑwhat to do in this case, I think the clearest choice for Latinos is that
we are seeing a lot of demonization of our community.
And that growing alarm
may mean November for us is an opportunity to vote for respect and for candidates
who are going to denounce the demonization of this or any other community. They should
be able to stand for what they believe on the issues
without attacking one community or another.
All right. Clarissa Martinez from the National Council of La Raza
thank you so much for your time tonight.