The 'Bola' Is in McCain's Court

When they come to the barrios to seek the Hispanic vote, Democratic Party leaders tell us anything we want to hear, especially about their plans to fix our broken immigration system and to grant some kind of amnesty to the 12 million illegal immigrants already living here.

But when they address a national audience, as they did from their convention in Denver last week, you don't hear anything that resembles their barrio speeches.

In fact, from listening to the main speakers at the Democratic National Convention, you wouldn't know this country has an immigration/national security crisis or that the American people consider immigration reform/enforcement to be one of the most important issues of our time.

On the Spanish-language TV networks, we saw interviews with Latino Democrats at the convention, and of course, they were speaking as if their party had solutions to all of our problems. Some will tell you that the Democratic Party platform — which few Americans read — commits the party to overhauling the nation's immigration laws and placing illegal immigrants on a path to legalization. But you have to wonder why none of their Spanish-language TV rhetoric or platform commitments came out of the speeches delivered from the main convention podium.

It's clearly a sign that once again, the Latino vote is being taken for granted by the Democratic Party. The polls say that Sen. Barack Obama leads Sen. John McCain by a 3-1 margin among Latino voters, and Democrats obviously feel they can sit back and say absolutely "nada." If they can win the Hispanic vote by default, why risk alienating some xenophobic Americans who might vote for Obama?

Yet that was the convention where many Latinos expected to hear strong condemnations of the immigrant-bashing measures and anti-Hispanic rhetoric of many Republican lawmakers during the past few years. That was the place and time for Democrats, especially Obama, to earn respect from Latinos.

Instead, what Latinos got was disrespect. They are America's largest minority, but they were treated as if they don't exist.

Here's a simple Internet research exercise: Download the texts of the most important prime time speeches — including those by Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Sen. Joe Biden or any of the other keynote speakers. Then, within each of those transcripts, search for a few keywords. Try "Hispanic" or "Latino" or "immigration" or "Latin America." Or try the name of the Latin American countries that have been in the news lately: Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba, etc.

You will be surprised by the almost absolute absence of any of the issues that are uniquely of interest to Latinos.

You will find that even when the words "immigrants" or "immigration" were used, in speeches by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, it was done very disingenuously — by simultaneously trying to appeal to both sides of the immigration debate.

Clinton said she ran for president "to make America once again a nation of immigrants and of laws." Obama said, "Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers."

What? Which side are they on?

Clearly, they are so afraid of alienating the anti-immigrant voters that they decided to be as vague as possible on the issue of immigration. Some leaders! Some way to deserve the Hispanic vote!

And so Latinos must ask themselves, What good is being "the largest minority" if the party that claims to represent you best actually treats you as if you were invisible?

With these speeches, Democrats — especially Obama — lost a huge opportunity to clinch the landslide victory they need in the barrios. During the next couple of months, if McCain resists xenophobic pressure from the conservative wing of his party and demonstrates to Latinos that he is still a maverick on immigration and free trade with Latin America, the Latino vote in several swing states still could make McCain our next president.

If McCain does what the Democrats wouldn't do, there still could be a dramatic shift in the Hispanic vote, which is not as firmly committed to Obama as Democratic Party leaders apparently assume. After all, what has Obama done to win over the Latinos who voted for Hillary Clinton during the primaries? Even when Latinos say they are going to vote for Obama, many admit that he has done "casi nada" ("almost nothing") to appeal to their community.

Oh, yes, he spoke at a couple of Hispanic conventions and made some promises that he apparently is not willing to make when the rest of America is listening.

It will be harder for McCain to sell comprehensive immigration reform at the Republican convention than it was for Obama at the Democratic gathering. But if McCain the maverick decides to show up, look out!

If McCain asks his fellow Republicans to secure the borders but renounce the politics of xenophobia, if he tells them to welcome diversity and embrace their Latino neighbors — around the corner and south of the border — if he reminds everyone that Latinos and Republicans share many common values, we could see the most dramatic voter shift in American history.

The Democrats think they can win the Latino vote by default, but the "bola" is on McCain's side of the court.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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