îl!r ^Iovtlanh (Observer
Page 8
October 3, 2012
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Losing Bid to Win the Latino Vote
Romney needs
to up his game,
pronto
by
R aul A. R eyes
When I watched
Mitt Romney on acan-
d id ates forum on
U n iv isio n ,
the
country's largest Spanish-language
TV network, something about him
looked different. He actually looked
browner. At first I figured it was my
imagination, but soon everyone
from Washington Post columnist
Jonathan Capehart to the gossipy
Gawker website was buzzing about
the R ep u b lican p re sid e n tia l
nominee’s new, tanner appearance.
The consensus seemed to be that
either he had been the victim of a
bad makeup job, or he had gone
heavy on the spray tan.
Either way, Romney has been
trying harder lately to connect with
Latino voters. Besides going on
Univision, he also appeared on its
rival network, Telemundo, and gave
a speech to Latino business lead
ers.
Through it all, he gave mislead
ing answers and sidestepped im
portant issues. It seems that his new
la tin o outreach is as fake as his new
skin tone.
When Romney spoke to the His
panic Chamber of Commerce in Los
Angeles, he criticized President
Barack Obama's immigration poli
cies. Romney even claimed that the
incumbent has done nothing to
advance the Dream Act, a measure
that would allow undocumented
immigrants brought here as chil
dren a path to citizenship, provided
they meet certain conditions. But in
fact, Obama did support the Dream
Act, which died in 2010 after Repub
licans deserted it.
It's hypocritical for Romney to
blame the Dream Act's failure on
Obama when Romney himself has
vowed to veto it. No wonder Na
tional Public Radio noted a "polite if
tepid" applause from the chamber's
members during the Republican
nominee's speech.
On Telemundo, Romney said, "If
people want more free stuff from the
government, they may be attracted
to President Obama. If they want
more jobs and good jobs, I think
they'll support my campaign."
Who said people wanted free
stuff from the government? More
telling was the fact that Romney
didn't explain in any detail how he
planned to create "more jobs and
good jobs."
Like other Am ericans, some
Latinos do depend on government
services to help them improve their
lives or get through tough economic
times. The millions of people who
receive some form of government
aid include seniors, veterans, chil
dren, and the working poor. Does
Romney consider them all mooch-
ers?
With the election drawing near,
Romney needs to win over millions
of Hispanic voters, especially in key
battleground states like Florida,
Nevada, Virginia, and Colorado, if
he wants to move into the White
House. A September poll by the
research group Latino Decisions
showed Obama with the support of
68 percent of Hispanics, compared
with 26 percent for Romney.
To do better with Latinos, Rom
ney needs to up his gam e— pronto.
Instead, Romney is still ducking the
tough questions.
At the Uni vision forum, he was
asked about Obama's "deferred-ac
tion" plan for undocumented youth.
The new immigration policy allows
qualified young people a two-year
reprieve from deportation if they
prove they are in school or the mili
tary, and have clean records. De
spite being repeatedly pressed by
the moderators, Romney wouldn't
say whether he would continue or
cancel the policy as president.
He would only allow that he
planned to "put in place a perma
nent solution" to illegal immigra
tion. His refusal to give a straight
answer was almost insulting. It didn't
help that Romney referred to these
undocumented youth as "illegal
aliens."
At the same forum, Romney was
asked what he planned to do about
the estimated 10 million undocu
mented immigrants in the U.S. "We
are not going to round up people
around the country and deport
them," Romney said.
Yet the GOP hopeful is firmly
against any "amnesty" for the un
d o cu m en ted . He has c a lle d
Arizona's stringent immigration law
a "model for the nation." His "self
deportation" concept is inhumane
as well as unrealistic. So what is
Romney's immigration policy? That
remains unclear.
"I am convinced that the Repub
lican Party is the rightful home of
Hispanic Americans," has become
Romney's go-to line. But it sure is
hard to see why. He has had months
to make his case, and so far his
approach seems to be, "just trust
me." This isn't an effective strategy
to win the Latino vote, let alone the
presidency.
Raul A. Reyes is an attorney and
columnist in New York City.