The Latino Vote

Being Latino in America today is exactly identical to being Irish at the turn of the century in 1900. You are here, you are there and damn it you Latino’s are everywhere. Much like the Irish immigrants or just having an Irish last name more or less had you looked down upon from the 1870’s on into the 1930’s. It comes with the turf when the established society looks at anyone not like them as a threat to the status quo. This is the 1970’s and into 2008 and we have an election dilemma on our hands. Does the Latino community have a say in the next election? Yes they do but then again they are not the only people voting.

When it comes to politics and running for President we find out that the Latino community does not have full faith in Barack Obama and the vote in that community is split amongst him and Hillary Clinton. No kidding! The vote is split amongst all Democrats be you Polish, English, Italian, Norwegian, Russian, or even Irish descent. Pick a land your ancestors came from and if you vote in the Democrat primary then your families vote is split.

This election process isn’t about just the Latino vote. This election is about Americans and that is the end of it. You can be a Latino with pride just as a stupid Mick like me can be proud of my heritage but our nation is American at heart. That includes all of those sons of biscuit eaters that can not stand to be in the same check out counter line as you or I simply because we look, speak or act different.

Over at MSNBC they have this piece on the Latino vote is the supposed key to the election of Hillary or Obama…

For Clinton, Latino vote could swing the deal
But Obama is pushing hard: ‘As Latinos get to know me, we do better’

MSNBC and NBC News
updated 8:06 a.m. ET, Fri., Feb. 8, 2008

For decades, much has been said about the potential power of Latino voters, but rarely has their impact lived up to expectations.

This year is different, according to political analysts and leaders of Latino activist organizations. While many Latinos like and admire both of the leading Democratic candidates for president, these authorities say, their years-long connection to former President Bill Clinton could deliver the party’s nomination to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

The problem is not with Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, said respected Latino political analysts, who rejected as a too-easy stereotype the suggestion that Latino voters would not vote for Obama because he is a black man.

“That is an argument without foundation,” said Angelo Falcón, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy.

Falcón and others pointed to several indicators of Obama’s popularity among Latinos, noting the large and enthusiastic crowds he attracted in Latino neighborhoods in the days leading up to the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses and pointing out that he won among Latinos in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.

Obama, meanwhile, points to polling trends that show his popularity among Latinos rising over time, saying, “As Latinos get to know me, we do better.” - MSNBC

There is no “Me” in the Constitution but there is a “We” in there at the beginning. As in We the people in order to form a more perfect nation… At no point does it say we the English descendants, or we the German descendants, or we the Latino descendants. It’s about we the people and that is why we vote for President every four years. We the people, all of the people vote to confirm or deny the current political lot that our nation is in. This election result is just not a Latino controlled matter. It is an American election.

How MSNBC decided to think that anyone that is not Latino vote will not matter is beyond me. Frankly, if the post said the same about the Irish deciding that Hillary would win the vote I would be just as pissed. So should you.

In my house, I voted for Obama, my wife voted for Clinton. For MSNBC records that would be one Irish American vote and one Polish American vote. That is division right here in my own home so the MSNBC story is very inaccurate in my opinion. For some odd reason I felt that the MSNBC post was leaning way to much on the precedent of Bill Clinton and thus Hillary Clinton deserved the Latino vote. Are we voting for the next President or the former President’s wife simply because she has a wedding band?

If Latino’s look at the candidates and the division is the same way as every other ancestral driven American community then they are stuck in the same boat as the rest of us. Split and making up their minds when they actually vote.

Papamoka

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