Interview # 3: Los Angeles Talk Radio KTLK 1150AM

Interview with Los Angeles Talk Radio KTLK 1150AM host Josefa Salinas: Latinos and the Presidential Election....is our time finally here?

CLICK here to listen to the interview (begins @ minute 22:00 of the show)

Exclusive Podcast Interview: Secretary Julian Castro & Congressman Joaquin Castro

Congressman Joaquin Castro & Secretary Julian Castro

The Castro brothers, Joaquin and Julian, interview exclusively for Jimmy's Politico about the impact of Latinos in America!

Exclusive Interview: Sen Dog of Cypress Hill and Election Day!

Sen Dog of Cypress Hill interviewing for Jimmy's Politico!

In an exclusive interview for Jimmy's Politico, Sen Dog of Cypress Hill talks about the impact of Latinos in America and gives a strong message to Latino youth.

Opinion: Don’t be a fool, vote

by Stephen A. Nuño

7:04 am on 11/05/2012

Some argue that neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney deserve your vote on Tuesday.
But you are a fool if you consciously decide not to vote for president on Tuesday. You are a fool because this is your country and this is a democracy, and to abstain from making a choice for president is cowardly. If you feel you have been disrespected, then you know nothing about politics and you are just being a whiny baby. Grow up.

You are a fool because Latinos have shed blood in every war since the Revolution and the Civil War to protect this right to vote. Honor your ancestors with the courage of taking part in the basic democratic function of determining the pathway for your posterity.

You are a fool because our culture runs through the veins of this country. The oldest European city of this country is Spanish, St. Augustine in Florida, and when it was established, the largest city on the continent was a city built by Latino sweat and blood, Mexico City. Unlike Jamestown, St. Augustine still stands, and Mexico City is still the largest city on the continent. Be proud. This is your land.

You are a fool if you do not vote for president because you are perfectly capable of understanding the differences between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney outside of the narrow issue of immigration, and within the broader scope of what is the best direction for Latinos in general.

You are a fool if you do not vote for president because if you think you are being disrespected now; wait until future candidates discover you are the type to expect the dignity of genuine attention without exhibiting the capacity to make a difficult decision.

You are a fool if you do not vote for president because the direction of our health care policy is a live or die issue for Latinos. Both candidates have staked a clear position on this issue. If you are too consumed by your own narcissistic feelings about respect to act like a grown up, then by all means, self deport to an uninhabited island where you can live in the comfort of your own empty voice.

You are a fool if you do not vote because there are people who would love it if you did not vote, and in fact are working diligently to help you along with your sophomoric little protest. A cottage industry has been built around creating a facade of voter fraud to justify laws that will be used against you at the ballot box. Your right to vote is being fought over at the federal level because of laws that help prevent these assaults, like the Voting Rights Act.

Who do you think appoints the Attorney General who will defend your right to vote?
You are a fool if you do not vote for president because the ability to make decisions about birth control disproportionately affects Latinas, who are poorer and have less access to resources that help them exercise their reproductive rights. Who do you think will appoint the Supreme Court Justices that will defend this right and help ensure that our family and friends have access to safe medical procedures?

You are a fool if you do not vote because our Latino sons and daughters, right now, are risking their lives abroad for our country. They are in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe. Latinos are standing guard for you. The least you can do is help decide who their Commander in Chief will be.

Don’t be a fool on Tuesday. Vote for president.


Stephen A. Nuño, Ph.D., NBC Latino contributor and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Northern Arizona University. He is currently writing a book on Republican outreach into the Latino Community.

Opinion: Latinos will decide Romney’s Presidential Fate

If the Presidential elections were held today, Mitt Romney would lose the election according to many polls. The swing group that will decide his fate…the Latino voters.

Related: Obama and Romney intensify their Latino outreach in Florida

According to the Washington Post, “Obama continues to hold a large lead over Romney among Latinos after the conventions — 66 percent to 29 percent, pretty much where he was before them. Romney has to boost his percentage — a lot. Sen. John McCain got an estimated 31 percent of the Latino vote in 2008. While there’s some dispute on the numbers, George W. Bush got an estimated 35 percent of the Latino vote in 2000 and around 40 percent of that vote in 2004.”

Romney is in full “Latino” gear to capture our hearts (our votes & our tans). As I tagged along for the ride, the Governor’s first stop last week was the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) annual convention, which my hometown of Los Angeles played host this year.

Governor Romney spoke at the USHCC’s  “Ultimate Latina Luncheon”, of course sponsored by BMW and the “ultimate machine”. The luncheon was honoring Cristina Saralegui. I guess someone told Romney that in order to get the Latino vote, you first have to get through our Latinas. As many people know about our culture, women are the core matriarch of the family. You get to them and you get to all of us! Romeny’s mission…failed.

As I was assisting Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry present to Javier Palomarez, CEO/President of the USHCC, the City proclamation stating that day “The official day of Latina entrepreneurs” in the City of Los Angeles, I could not stop to think of the dichotomy of where I stood.

Just a few moments ago, the candidate for the presidency of the United States, was pitching himself once again to Latinos as the better Presidential candidate. As a Republican myself, I unfortunately found Romney’s speech lacking passion and ganas. I also found it insulting that he did not lay out his plan to overhaul federal immigration policies, or at a minimum explain how “self-deportation” actually works.

Romney said that his focus is on economic development. According to Immigration Reform for America, their study concluded that if  “…improving the process of immigration policies, it would generate generated 66 billion in revenue over 10 years, mostly from income and payroll taxes from new and newly-legalized immigrants.”

Interesting…because if Romney and President Obama (with his 1.2 million deportes) do not see immigration reform as the platform for economic development, I really do not want eitherr as President of these United States of America. Romney has had years to prepare for his candidacy. If he does not get it now, he definitely will not get it by Election Day,

I then witnessed a few days of great television…I know it sounds like an oxymoron. Univision’s Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas interviewed both Governor Romney and President Obama individually. As a political junkie, I was not only in heaven but I saw true journalism when both candidates were grilled with hard questions about their platforms.

At the end, I felt that both candidates failed me. I saw the same blame game and finger pointing that gridlocks all levels of our American government. I commend Univision for their commitment to their viewers and to the American people.

Finally, I witnessed again on television (it must be Emmy’s week) Jorge Ramos as a guest on George Stephenopolous’ show, This Week . Jorge was on a panelist group that included both Republican and Democrat strategists, and also Ann Coulter. So I was ready with popcorn in hand to watch the battle royal. To my surprise, this was by far the best show George Stephenopolous has had, and the show did not even include my favorite analyst George Will.

I saw Jorge Ramos truly represent Latinos as he answered questions and gave his opinion on the campaign and upcoming elections. He did it with style and grace that left me speechless. But the best was saved for last. Jorge went head to head with Ann Coulter. For those who do not know who she is, then I don’t know where you have been hiding. Ann is basically like a Rush Limbaugh, but who is a blonde and wears a skirt.

VIDEO: ABC’s THIS WEEK - http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/ann-coulter-racial-politics-this-week-roundtable-17302165

Ann represents that 1% of angry Americans who must find a scape goat for their problems and who do not take responsibility for their actions…tu sabes.

Jorge Ramos is the man. He gracefully and with dignity and a smile placed Ann back in her place. He did it with facts. He did it with respect. He did like a Latino.

Oh yes…we have a Presidential election coming up in November. In all honesty, I am tired of voting for the “least of two evils.” I know we have great young candidates out there that can truly represent America. I think its time for both parties to really look inwardly and realize that they are in need of reorganization.

Related:Opinion:Republicans are grooming Latino leaders, Dems are not

I have been waiting for thirty-nine years for this past week to finally arrive. America….the sleeping giant is now fully awake.

Opinion: If Obama’s appeal to minorities is a gamble so is the GOP’s appeal to the “white voter”

Great piece by NBC political commentator and fellow Loyola Cub....take the time to read it!

U.S. President Barack Obama greets supporters during a campaign rally at Byrd Park October 25, 2012 in Richmond, Virginia. With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, Obama and his GOP opponent former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are crisscrossing the country attempting to sway voters in all-important swing states. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

by Stephen A. Nuňo

6:07 pm on 10/25/2012

 

It was clear early on in Mitt Romney’s campaign that he had committed himself to the “white vote.” Of course, he had little choice. Almost 90 percent of those who voted in Republican primaries identified as white. The Republican Party has for decades gambled on the surest thing in American politics; the appeal of our country’s collective sense of whiteness.

Newsweek and Daily Beast’s columnist John Avlon, however, mischaracterizes this phenomenon by claiming that President Obama’s appeal to minorities is a gamble, as if the democratic notion of appealing to all people is a foreign concept for democracy. Avlon’s benign assumption that the appeal to minorities is an implicit rejection of white people is false. They are not mutually exclusive in form or function. The interests of whites is the same as those of Latinos.

But while mutual exclusivity on the basis of race and ethnicity is false, it is precisely the narrative the Romney campaign has appealed to throughout the year, and Avlon is reinforcing this narrative, even if unintentionally. This is the nature of systemic racism. You breathe it.

The former chairman of the Republican National Committee admitted as much. In 2005, Ken Mehlman said, “Some Republicans gave up on winning the African American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here today as the Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong.”
Yet this history of racial division against African-Americans hasn’t changed the tactics of the GOP’s approach towards Latino voters.

When Pete Wilson’s seat as governor of California was threatened, he bet on whiteness. He blamed California’s ailing economy on undocumented immigrants, which turned into an assault on Latino identity. Of course, he won.

Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, found herself in a similar position in 2010. With Arizona’s economy reeling from the collapse of the housing market, Brewer faced a 50 percent unfavorability rating in the polls by February of 2010. Brewer responded by appealing to her ace in the hole; she bet on whiteness. The month after the anti-immigrant bill, SB1070, was signed, Brewer’s favorability reached its highest in her career and skyrocketed her back into office later that year.

Yet these laws can’t be explained by economics. These laws have had devastating economic results on states that embrace these laws, yet they continue to gain momentum across the country. Two researchers, Karthick Ramakrishnan and Pratheepan Gulasekaram, looked at 25,000 municipalities and all fifty states to see if anti-immigration laws could be explained simply by economics.

They found that the most accurate explanation for these laws was partisan identity. In other words, the more Republican a district or state was, the more likely we are to see these laws emerge.

The GOP, however, wants us to believe that these laws have nothing to do with race. They are simply rational reactions to circumstance. They are pushbacks against the Federal government’s refusal to enforce our immigration laws.

In a highly-publicized event, Donald Trump offered the President five million dollars in exchange for the release of his college transcripts. Nobody expected the President to take him up on the offer, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to continue the assault on President Obama’s legitimacy as a rightful member of society. From the obsession with his birth certificate, his middle name or his father’s nationality, the whole purpose is to appeal to the country’s sense of whiteness.

There is a serious gamble going on, but the gamble is not on minorities or by Barack Obama; the gamble is being taken by the others.


Stephen A. Nuño, Ph.D., NBC Latino contributor and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Northern Arizona University. He is currently writing a book on Republican outreach into the Latino Community.

Opinion: The campaigns have treated Mexico as an oversized HomeDepot

 President Barack Obama (L) greets Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R) following the third and final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, 

October 22, 2012. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

by Stephen A. Nuňo

9:08 am on 10/23/2012

Latin countries avoided the gaze of the giant in last night’s presidential debate on foreign policy, while the focus was mainly on the Middle East and China. Perhaps its better that way, but throughout this campaign, surprisingly little has been said about Latinos and issues that disproportionately impact our lives.

The only substantive comment on Latin America was by Mitt Romney, who said we are not adequately taking advantage of opportunities there regarding trade. It was perhaps unfortunate that just before mentioning Latin America he discussed energy independence and capitalizing on coal, oil and gas, because it sounded disturbingly colonial.

However, the impact of our foreign policy on immigration was missed in the entire debate. From our sponsorship of anti-Communist regimes that imposed brutal tactics to seize power in Central America, and for which we continue to reap what we have sown in gangs and drug lords, to our heavy-handed support of American corporations bent on extracting natural resources, we continue to ignore the direct role our foreign policy has had on domestic problems.

Our war on drugs, which is essentially a jobs program that pays one group of people to put another group of people in a box, without making any positive change in the disease of drug addiction ravaging minority communities, has thrown Mexico into a most uncivil war against ruthless gangs determined to get rich off of American addiction.

The privileged status reserved for Cuban immigrants was also completely ignored. Cuban immigrants who manage to make it to American soil are given permanent residency status after one year. This is not to say that this policy is judiciously administered, since Cuban refugees are often prevented from reaching American soil by the Coast Guard, sometimes through direct force, but it has been a source of resentment among Latinos for decades.

If a Haitian refugee and Cuban refugee reach American shores at the same time, the Haitian goes through a deportation process, while the Cuban goes through a system designed to integrate him or her into the country. This is the same for Cubans who are detained at our southern border with Mexico, who have been coming in greater numbers recently. While Mexican migrants, who are largely economic refugees seeking opportunity, are deported, those who are Cuban are given a pathway to citizenship.

This immigration policy is directly related to foreign policy and is a throwback to the Cold War. With Fidel Castro as the last remnant of that era reaching “Weekend at Bernie’s” status, our asymmetric immigration policy is an important question for Latinos that has gone unaddressed for far too long.

Since the Monroe Doctrine, which declared any attempt by European countries to colonize South America as an act of aggression almost two hundred years ago, our collective national conscience has viewed Latin countries as an extension of domestic policy, but without the respect of co-equality. In essence, our perception of the people south of our border is that they are themselves both a resource and a burden.

The Anglo-centric history of our leadership and their sense of superiority has denied this country an opportunity to expand prosperity, not only across our continent but across South America, as a consequence. And it has directly impacted Latinos in America and abroad.

We see Mexico as an oversized Home Depot, where we drive by and pick up laborers as we need them, and then dump them into the real world without access to the mechanisms of prosperity once the work is done.

And when we run into tough economic times, these same people become a convenient villain for our politicians who depend on ignorance and racism to get elected.

It would have been nice to see our first minority president address these issues in his first term, or at least bring attention to these issues in our national dialogue, but perhaps it was too naïve to believe he could. There is simply too much social privilege in excluding others from economic growth, and too much opportunity in capitalizing on the resources of others, to think our President had any power to do so.

Stephen A. Nuño, Ph.D., NBC Latino contributor and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Northern Arizona University. He is currently writing a book on Republican outreach into the Latino Community.

NBC/WSJ/Telemundo poll: Obama holds strong lead, Romney has ‘image problem’ with Latinos

Great piece by Sandra Lilley of NBC Latino!

Politics

A new NBC/WSJ/Telemundo poll finds Barack Obama with a strong lead over Mitt Romney. (Photo/Win McNamee/Getty Images)

 

by Sandra Lilley, @sandralilley

12:08 pm on 10/22/2012

BOCA RATON, Fl – As the candidates get ready for their final debate tonight here in Florida, a new NBC/WSJ/Telemundo poll finds Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney by 45 points among Latino voters – 70 percent to 25 percent among likely voters, and pretty much the same with registered voters, 69 to 23 percent.

 ”Despite a tightened presidential race among the wider electorate – Hispanics continue to say they prefer President Obama by wide margins,” says Domenico Montanaro, NBC News Deputy Political Editor.

A crucial issue for Mitt Romney, according to the poll results, is that Romney “continues to have a severe image problem with Hispanics,” according to Montanaro.  Forty five percent of Latinos have a “very negative” view of Governor Romney, up from 35 percent last month.  A solid majority, 57 percent, have a negative view of Romney.

The NBC/WSJ/Telemundo poll finds President Obama has strong approval ratings, but they have dropped – from 73 percent last month to 66 percent. On how President Obama is handling the economy, the President’s approval declined slightly to 61 percent from 66, and on favorability, Obama is now at 69 percent favorable from 74 percent last month.

Did the previous debates help ‘move the needle’ for the candidates?  Fourteen percent of Latinos polled say they are more likely to vote for Romney after the debates; 48 percent say it made them more likely to vote for Obama, while 35 percent say it made no difference.

On the question of Latino enthusiasm for the election, it has gone up slightly since last month, according to the NBC/WSJ/Telemundo poll.  Sixty eight percent of Latinos say they are a ’9 or 10′ on the enthusiasm scale, up from 59 percent last month, though this is still down from the 76 percent of Latinos four years ago who said the same at this time. Latinos are also lagging behind the general electorate, there 76 percent they are a ‘nine or ten.’

An impreMedia-Latino Decisions poll released today, though, finds Latino voters are ‘highly engaged’  in the election, and 56 percent of Latinos say they are ‘very enthusiastic’ about the election, up from 51 percent last week.  In fact, within the 45-65 age group, this poll finds 89 percent are certain to vote, and 68 percent say they are very enthusiastic.

Moreover, almost six out of ten Latinos in this age group say they are certain to vote, and almost 30 percent have volunteered for a campaign or worked on voter registration. The poll also found support for President Obama is up. Seventy one percent of respondents were certain or likely to vote for Obama, compared to 67 percent last week, according to the results.

Monica Lozano, of impreMedia, says Mitt Romney now stands at 20 percent in the new impreMedia/Latino Decisions poll. Though the general polls have Romney and Obama neck and neck, Lozano said if the national polls are not accurately polling and counting Latinos,  which will comprise about 10 percent of the voters, “they may be overstating Romney’s numbers by 2 or 3 points,” Lozano said.

Here in Florida, a new Scripps/WPTV poll has Romney ahead by one point, 48 percent to Obama’s 47 percent, and this Florida poll has Romney ahead among Hispanics, 49 to 46 percent.  The pollsters attribute these higher Romney Latino numbers to the state’s Cuban-American population, which according to the poll favors Romney.

But Casey Klofstad, associate professor of political science at the University of Miami, says “the Cuban-American population in South Florida skews Republican, but my guess is that the Latino vote in Florida will break more for Obama and Obama will win the Latino vote in Florida, though there is a tightening of the margin,” says Klofstad.

“Polls bounce up and down,” adds Kloftstad, “but in the end, the Latino vote is really going to hinge on turnout,” he says.

The NBC News/WSJ/Telemundo poll finds thirteen percent of the Latinos polled say they have already voted early, and another 10 percent say they plan to vote before Election Day.

OPINION: Romney’s Chance To Win Latino Voters: “The Economy Stupid”

America last night saw round two of the Presidential Debate, and the race is getting closer and closer. According to the national Gallup poll, Governor Romney is edging at 50% versus President Obama at 46%.

RELATED STORY: Post-debate analysis: Romney 1, Obama 0

Both campaigns are fighting hard to court the Latino vote for this Presidential election. Even Former Governor Jeb Bush stated that the margin of victory in the 15 swing states will be decided by Latinos. Now for the first time in American history, Latinos will decide who will be the next President come this November.

We have seen both parties put out their Spanish language campaign ads trying to convince Latinos that they are the right candidate. The Governor’s son, Craig Romney, is in one of these ads, as he touts his father as the right candidate for America and in Spanish:

 Romney Spanish Language Campaign Ad (CLICK HERE)

But what will really push Latinos to vote for Governor Romney? President Clinton’s former campaign strategist, James Carville, coined the phrase in the 1992 Clinton campaign, “The Economy Stupid”. Clinton’s campaign used the recession to successfully unseat the incumbent President Bush, who served just one term.  Carville also used the message, “Change vs More of the Same”. I don’t know about you, but I am seeing a lot of similarities from the 1992 Presidential elections and the only difference is the shoe is on the other foot.

The issue of the economy is going to be the principle indicator of how Latinos will vote for either candidate. This is why Romney still has a chance of winning this Presidential election because it’s the “economy stupid”.

RELATED STORY: Craig Romney meets with North Carolina Latinos, campaigns door-to-door

Romney’s campaign is gaining speed, money and political messaging. Romney still has a chance to show Latinos that he is the right choice for President. What he needs is to continue focusing on how his economic plan and experience will be better for Americans. Latinos will listen to Romney’s economic message only if it makes sense like for most Americans. Will the economy get better? How will real jobs be created? How will my business be protected?

According to the US Census, both Latinos and women are the largest growing overall groups in business ownership in the United States. Entrepreneurship is part of the DNA of the Latino culture and only makes sense why we are so interested in issues relating to the economy and the business climate.

Romney has just a few weeks left to show Latinos that he is the right candidate for President. He must focus his message on supporting small business, increasing jobs in America, and protecting current jobs from leaving the United States. If he continues this path, Romney’s chance for Latinos voting for him will increase, and Latinos might possibly make him the next President of the United States.

Post-debate analysis: Romney 1, Obama 0

 

 

 

by Sandra Lilley, @sandralilley

DENVER, Co. – It’s a brisk, cold post-debate day here in Denver, which pretty much describes the way Latino analysts are rating President Obama’s performance in last night’s presidential debate.

“I just don’t understand President Obama’s thought process last night,” says Stella Rouse, a Colombian-American political scientist at the University of Maryland.  “Obama was too professorial, he got lost in details, and he seemed lethargic,” Rouse adds.

“I have to hand it to Romney, he was on top of it and he was the aggressor,” says Rouse.  “Romney came up with zingers and said things that were not true, like saying Obama would cut 719 billion from Medicare, and he threw it out there like three times, and Obama didn’t respond, I don’t understand,” Rouse says.
Political scientist and NBC Latino contributor Victoria DeFrancesco Soto was pretty blunt in her assessment. “I think people connected with Romney, he hit it out of the park,” she says, adding, “If you landed from outer space and saw President Obama in the debate, you’d be like who is this guy?”  She explains while President Obama enjoys great likeability among voters, last night Governor Romney dominated in style, substance and demeanor.

And it looks like independent voters agreed with Rouse’s and DeFrancesco Soto’s observations.  In polls of independent voters taken after the debate, a large majority of voters thought Governor Romney did a better job.

Both analysts said many issues which could have been addressed, especially issues which mattered to many Latino voters, were left untouched.
“There was so many issues left untouched – women’s issues, immigration, details about education,” says DeFrancesco Soto.

Rouse agrees. “I thought certainly that in a domestic agenda debate they should have touched on immigration reform, the Dream Act – these issues have been at the forefront since both Republican and Democrats have run on these issues,” Rouse explains, who says she was disappointed that the moderator, PBS anchor Jim Lehrer, let the candidates dictate the issues discussed.

Regardless of the candidates’ performance, the debate did highlight the important fundamental philosophical and policy differences between the two parties. Governor Romney repeatedly emphasized he would repeal Obamacare and leave health care legislation to the individual states, and repeated his support for a Medicare voucher system for adults under Medicare age. Romney also strenuously opposed any increase in taxes to reduce the deficit, saying increasing taxes does not create jobs. President Obama on the other hand defended his belief that additional taxation on wealthier individuals and corporations needs to be part of deficit reduction, and defended increased government expenditures in areas such as education and energy investment.

Latino Republicans say Romney’s performance has given them momentum.  “I’m delighted with his performance, I thought he hit 100,” said Romney supporter Al Cardenas. “I thought Mitt Romney addressed undecided voters from the heart and laid it out in a way that was clear.”
Latino Democrats, however, stressed after the debate that Governor Romney was not being truthful about how his proposed cuts would affect Latino families.  Obama For America’s Gabriela Domenzain said last night that “facts matter, and Romney didn’t deliver them,” stressing that Romney’s policies would cut education investments in Pell Grants and money for elementary schools, as well as cuts in Medicaid.  Ledy Garcia-Eckstein, a Colorado Latina watching the debate, said “Romney’s policies would bring us back to the financial brink.”

Both DeFrancesco Soto and Rouse think last night’s debate could tighten up the race, especially in swing states where it is neck-and-neck. Among Latinos, however, President Obama holds a large lead over Governor Romney, according to the latest NBC News/WSJ Journal/Telemundo poll.
The candidates move on to continue their campaigning in key swing states, President Obama holding a rally in Denver and then Wisconsin tomorrow and Governor Romney going to Virginia.
The next debates will have different formats. On a town-hall debate, Latinos interviewed hope more topics of interest to Hispanics will come up for discussion.

Op-Ed: One mom’s hope to get Latino youth involved in the voting process

Every month 50,000 young Latinos turn 18 and can get involved in the voting process.

by Elianne Ramos, @ergeekgoddess

1:26 pm on 09/28/2012

Are today’s youth truly disengaged from the voting process? In light of statistics showing that one-third of all youth eligible to vote in 2012 will have turned 18 since November 2008, and that every month for the next two decades, 50,000 Latinos will turn 18, this question needs to be addressed.  While my own experience tells me otherwise, and numbers during the last election actually increased (i.e. 39 percent of 18 to 24 year old Latinos voted in the 2008 election), there’s still a broad consensus that young people, particularly Latinos, aren’t interested in politics.

I had the chance to discuss this very question with some of the participants of a voting drive I organized this past week in Baltimore, MD. One of the outcomes from the conversation was how we all felt that, more often than not, today’s youth have no idea about how voting affects their lives directly. Being the mom of a teen who’s soon to be 18 – and who, by the way, is really bothered by the fact that she won’t be able to vote this year – this got me thinking:  With youth being so well connected these days, how can they seem so disconnected from civic participation? I discussed this at length with Dana Vickers Shelley, a voter registration volunteer certified by the Maryland Board of Elections (and co-organizer of the voting drive).

Dana, a woman whose impressive resume includes being the former Senior Communications Appointee during the Clinton Administration, has been helping citizens register to vote since 2004. She is convinced that “young people are involved now, it’s just in a different way than they have been in the past. I think they are excited for our future and how they can contribute to our country’s success. But even with that, I don’t know how many young people have decided or even see how voting connects to it all.”

Even in a household like mine, where political discussions have become the tasty complement to many a family dinner, I’ve noticed this to be the case. While my daughter understands the importance of voting and goes out of her way to encourage her friends who can vote into doing it, she doesn’t always make the connection of the act of voting to her own daily life.

Open discussion of issues at home fueled Soledad Nuñez’s interest in civic work. This 19-year-old college student and activist recently co-founded — along with Lupe Pasillas — a non-partisan youth group called Latinos United for Voting (L.U.V.), after noticing the disinterest of her peers in the upcoming elections.  For her, part of the disconnect comes from the fact that “politics and history have always been geared to older people, so the youth don’t see it as something fun and they don’t make the connection as to how it can affect them.”

While she doesn’t necessarily believe that all youth are disconnected, the experience with her own group has taught her that outreach is stronger when it is put into the context of young people’s lives. “Whether it’s talking about health and reproductive services, undocumented student’s rights, or how much funding your school gets, there are so many things that affect us. It’s not just about listening to music or watching MTV.”

Vickers-Shelly agrees. “It’s important to talk to youth about registering and vote[ing], not just in November when everyone is thinking about it. And it’s also important to discuss what schools used to call civics. Whether it is the ‘no texting while driving’ laws, laws related to student loans, opportunities for college graduates or even health care and the Affordable Care Act, one must make it a point to discuss those things that definitely mean something different to them,” she says.

In the end, I believe everyone’s hope is that the up-and-coming generation turns out to be one of discerning, responsible, independent thinkers who can analyze the world’s situation and know they have the power to exert change. Our youth, Latinos or not, may not trust politicians, may be disenchanted with the process, but could it be that all they need is a little change of perspective?

We all have young people around us whom we can influence to varying degrees. As you go about your day, maybe you can strike up a spontaneous civic conversation with a neighborhood kid. Maybe you can encourage your kid to run for class president, or help you run a neighborhood park clean-up, go with you to your charity or volunteering activities, or go to your voting place. Maybe you introduce them to a civic-minded group, like the one Soledad is running. Or maybe, like me, you can start serving your meals with a nice side dish of news commentary. The point is to make them understand that politics is not about politicians: it’s about taking ownership of our very own, everyday life.

Elianne Ramos is Principal/CEO of Speak Hispanic Marketing and Vice-Chair, Marketing and PR for Latinos in Social Media (LATISM). Under LATISM, she is also Chief Editor of the LATISM blog, and hostess to weekly Twitter chats reaching over 18.8 million impressions. Follow her on Twitter @ergeekgoddess.

Click here for the NBC Latino's link.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) slaps hands with a boy after speaking at a campaign event September 13, 2012 in Golden, Colorado. Obama has made several campaign stops in Colorado, which is a hotly contested state in this year’s election. (Chris Schneider/Getty Images)

Opinion: Education is a non-issue in this election

by Jaime Rojas Jr.

1:18 pm on 09/14/2012

 

I cannot help but wonder what happened to all the rhetoric about education being first and foremost on the top of the American agenda? With all this mud-slinging from both parties during this Presidential election campaign, I have seen no real national discussion on the topic of education, at any level, especially during these last few weeks in which we as Americans prepare to vote for the next President of our country.

We have recently seen the teachers in Chicago strike for the first time in 25 years because union contract negotiations stalled. The United States of America, being the industrial superpower that we are (well tell that to China and India), is today struggling to keep our children highly educated, let alone graduating from high school. So what happened to our American society and its support of investing in education and in our children? Why are our children’s issues taking a back seat?

It really is simple: kids just don’t vote! Especially in a closely contested Presidential race like this one, the campaign strategists are looking at key voting blocks like swing voters, and trying to court them like sirens in the night. This is why healthcare and Medicare are such big buzzwords in this Presidential election because simply put senior citizens always vote, thus becoming a very powerful voting group.

According to the U.S. Census, more than one-third of the U.S. Latinos are 18 years old or younger and half are under the age of 26; two-thirds of U.S. Latinos are of Mexican decent; Over 80 percent of Latino youth are U.S. born; A majority of U.S. Latino students report English as their primary language; over half of Latino teens live in California or Texas; AND two-thirds of Latino youth live in two-parent families.

So why are all these “Latino” facts so important? Because our Latino youth population is not only the country’s largest population segment, but extremely influential in their own Latino households.  I remember growing up  our family always had dinner together. We watched Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salina Univision’s nightly news religiously.  I know for a fact my younger brother and I were able to influence or at a minimum put a bug in our parents’ heads about the topic of the day. This is true for a majority of Latino households. This ladies and gentlemen is influence, power and votes!

Mr. President and Governor Romney…. I think it’s time you listen not only to our American youth, but also to the sleeping giant that is now fully awake.

Jaime Rojas Jr. worked for The White House’s Office of Public Liaison and Latino outreach for President Bill Clinton, and for The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. He is also the former President and CEO of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (CHCC) and he wrote his first book in 2011 titled, “The Conservative’s Pocket Constitution.” Follow Jaime on Twitter @Jaime_Rojas

Interview: Los Angeles Talk Radio KTLK 1150AM

Interview with Los Angeles Talk Radio KTLK 1150AM host Josefa Salinas: Upcoming Presidential elections and Latino Politics In America!

CLICK HERE to Listen to interview with Jaime Rojas Jr

Opinion: Republicans are grooming Latino leaders, Dems are not

Here is my debut as a contributing writer for NBC Latino!! Thank you for the opportunity.....

Opinion: Republicans Are Grooming Latino Leaders, Dems Are Not. (CLICK HERE)

Opinion: Republicans are grooming Latino leaders, Dems are not

by Jaime Rojas Jr.

6:42 am on 09/07/2012

We saw this week the Democratic National Convention and its sea of diversity among its delegates on the Convention floor, a very stark contrast to the Republican National Convention faces we saw on television the week before. But behind the scenes, I see a very different picture regarding the grooming of Latino leadership for the future of American politics.

The Democrats paint a party of the “people” who represents the last frontier to protect what’s left of the American middle class. At the DNC, they showcased their Latino leadership. We saw my mayor, Antonio Villariagosa, prominently displayed as the chairman of the Convention. Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, is billed as the rising Latino star in the Democratic Party.

The RNC, on the other hand, spotlighted their chosen ones too: Congressman Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and Governor Susanna Martinez of New Mexico. So we ask: “Which political party is really grooming our future Latino leadership?” My short answer is….the Republican party. Here is why: The Democrats, with all their fanfare of diversity, really has no real infrastructure on a national or state level focused on grooming Latino leadership. Since Latinos just happen to make a large number in their party, really by default they have taken some leadership roles. And if you think about it, Democratic Latinos are not really in too many high level positions like governors or senior ranking congresspersons, considering the number of Latinos in the party.

The reason is simple. The Democratic Party has a “union” mentality when it comes to grooming its next leadership. You have to start practically at birth as a member of the Party and promote your way up the ladder, until it’s your time to eventually lead. Being from California, that process and mentality is obvious with the State Democrats and the union machine. So what real chance does a young Latino have of high level leadership in the Democratic Party, if they don’t follow this “promotional” leadership process…none.

The Republicans surprisingly enough, invested last year, on the national level into a fund specifically to identify and groom 100 top Latino leaders for the Party. Impressive? Well, the fund only started with less than 2 million dollars, which in today’s economy is not much, but it’s a start. For the first time we heard not just one but two Latinos, Congressman Marco Rubio and Governor Susanna Martinez on the short list for Vice President! We recently saw Congressman Ted Cruz come in and shock everyone with his win in Texas. He had some support (money) of the RNC too.

I believe the Republican party has the better chance of grooming and possibly delivering Latino political leaders that actually will not only look like us, but also represent us appropriately. Believe it or not, Latinos’ beliefs are very similar to those of the GOP: family, fiscal conservancy, small government, and support of entrepreneurship and business. Yes, I know, shocking but very true. With our potential voting power, Latinos can vote into office (or take out of office) the right candidate to represent and act on our legislative needs. What is good for Latinos is good for America…and what is good for America is good for Latinos!

The Latino community must continue investing in ourselves and believe that our time is here now. We must support leadership-training beginning with our youth, and support national organizations like the National Hispanic Institute, based out of Texas, who go after our cream of the crop of Latino youth and train them to think like leaders and entrepreneurs. At the end of the day, it is our responsibility, no one else’s, to train, groom and support America’s future leadership! Let’s all take this call for action….it is really the American thing to do, no que no?

Jaime Rojas Jr. worked for The White House’s Office of Public Liaison and Latino outreach for President Bill Clinton, and for The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. He is also the former President and CEO of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (CHCC) and he wrote his first book in 2011 titled, “The Conservative’s Pocket Constitution.” Follow Jaime on Twitter @Jaime_Rojas