GOP gets Florida Hispanic vote

[Terri]

GOP gets Florida Hispanic vote

By Víctor Manuel Ramos, Cristina Elías and Walter Pacheco
Sun-Sentinel

Hispanics in Florida again bucked national trends and supported the Republican presidential candidate, but apparently not as dramatically as in 2000.

Exit polls showed loyalty to the GOP had eroded some among Hispanics, with President Bush garnering more votes than his Democratic opponent, but John Kerry capturing a higher percentage than Al Gore did four years ago.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senate candidate Mel Martinez, a Cuban refugee and Republican, was doing better than Bush, pulling an estimated 59 percent of the vote, compared with the president's 54 percent, according to Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.

More (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-asechispanics0311030 4nov03,0,7139003.sto ry?coll=sfla-news-florida)

[Terri]

Quote[/b] ]Latino voters came out in force


Latino voters were not the difference-makers in most political races Tuesday, as so many had predicted.

Even President Bush could have won without Latinos, although early reports indicate that about 40.percent of Hispanics who went to the polls voted for him.

We're just not there yet, and I've said this before. Every vote that Latinos cast is very important. However, as a group, we are not voting as a bloc, and even though many more of us voted in this election, many other new voters of all backgrounds were motivated to cast ballots as well.

More (http://www.azcentral.com/news/columns/articles/1103teclocol-ON.html)

[feniangirl]

There are hispanics all the US that are definitely not liberal left. My brother was having a fit when he received his sample ballot - it was 90 pages long!!! However, only 45 pages were in English, the other half was in Spanish.

Here is a letter to the editor regarding the above http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/clap.gif http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/notworthy.gif *http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/clap.gif *:

Quote[/b] ] *When I retrieved my mail and found my sample ballot, I was eager to learn more about some of the questions. I immediately sat down and began to read.

But there was something very wrong. I looked again to make certain I wasn't seeing things. I wasn't. I ran outside and everything looked the same. My dog was still there, my license plate still read Nevada and I could still see the Stratosphere in the sky. Just to be 100 percent sure, I looked up my address on MapQuest. I am definitely, without a doubt, in the United States of America. So why would my sample ballot be half-Spanish?

I left Mexico 14 years ago. That should have been the last time I read my sample ballot in Spanish. My family and I worked very hard to learn the history of this country and the English language. All of our hard work paid off greatly when, on one of the proudest days of our lives, we became American citizens.

Before being sworn in as a citizen, you must answer several questions from a list of 100 or so that were given to you to study and learn. The questions deal with U.S. government and history, information the citizen of any country would be expected to know about their home. You would assume that all citizens have a decent command of the English language.

I don't believe you should have the right to vote for who runs this great country if you don't have enough respect for the responsibility of being a citizen to learn the language.

VICTOR PEREA

LAS VEGAS
*
Las Vegas Review Journal Letters to the Editor (http://www.reviewjournal.co m/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-19-Tue-2004/opinion/25011476.html)

[laurita_a]

I was one of those voters. More and more Hispanics are finally waking up. I've been voting Republican since I could vote and I am glad more Hispanics are coming around. I was disturbed to read that one voter voted for Mel Martinez just because he was Cuban. I hope that most voters are getting the facts and deciding the best candidates based on issues.

[Floridaguy]

You know how Democrats are always saying our party is full of rich, white guys, and no diversity (which is laughable even before this election, in which our president appointed more minorities and women to major positions than any president in history)? Well, JFTR, Mel Martinez becomes the first Cuban-American ever to be in the US Senate, and likewise, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana becomes the first Indian-American ever to be elected to Congress. To be fair, Obama did become the first Kenyan-American to be elected to the Senate (if that was a goal? ). *http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif