Politics

No one has bragging rights over the Latino vote, not yet. And after the massive immigrant rights marches of 2006, the old token “tamale politics” won’t work — if they ever did.

With Sen. Barack Obama emerging as the probable opponent to Republican Sen. John McCain, the Latino media and blogosphere have been abuzz with speculation on how the two might fare head-to-head.

Obama did poorly among Latinos against Sen. Hillary Clinton (On Super Tuesday, Latinos voted for Clinton by a 2-to-1 margin). The conventional wisdom has been that he is woefully vulnerable in this demographic. But McCain is not necessarily ideally positioned, according to Los Angeles political columnist Pilar Marrero. “*

Senators have approved legislation adding penalties and restrictions on illegal immigrants and employers.

Senators passed the bill 27-7 today, but it has a provision House leaders don’t like. It would allow employers who misclassify workers as “contractors” instead of “employees” to be fined up to $50,000.”*

Members of the only Latino women’s Republican group in the area gathered Wednesday for a lesson on media coverage and political spin, as they push for Republican candidate support this election year.

On the group’s agenda is promoting Republicans for office, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona for president and Stockton City Council District 4 candidate Diana Lowery.

“We need to know how to answer media questions the best way we know how,” said Carol Trujillo-Hadley, founder of Latinas United Republican Women Federated.”*

Gov. Sonny Perdue Wednesday vetoed a bill sponsored by state Rep. James Mills of Gainesville that would have required law enforcement officers to impound the vehicle of any person caught driving without a valid driver’s license.

The bill had been criticized by Hispanic advocates as unfairly targeting immigrants, something Mills repeatedly denied.

In signing the veto, Gov. Perdue said “While it does provide three exceptions – (1) persons driving with an expired license; (2) first-time offenders that are under 17 years of age; and (3) persons otherwise exempt from carrying a Georgia drivers’ license – it mandates impoundment in all other circumstances.”"*

FOR MANY CONSERVATIVES, Sen. John McCain is not their favorite Republican. They think he’s built a career at their expense, painting them as fools and bigots. They resent his holier-than-thou attitude. And they’re not inclined to trust anyone who has been so fawned over by the national media.

Curiously, a lot of liberal Democrats feel the same way about McCain. He isn’t their favorite Republican either — but it’s because they know he’ll be tough to beat in November. They would have preferred to run against someone more extreme and easier to demonize. That’s not John McCain.”*

Senators continued discussing a broad immigration bill after midnight Wednesday that includes a provision, which the measure’s sponsor says could kill the legislation.

But they stopped short of a vote because a slew of amendments tacked onto the bill added a price tag to the bill, which must be reviewed by a Senate committee before the immigration legislation can be voted on.”*

As Hillary Clinton’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination loses steam on the mainland, it’s full speed ahead in Puerto Rico, which holds one of the last remaining primaries June 1.

Her focus on the island has some political observers wondering why. Clinton has fallen behind her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, and it seems mathematically impossible for her to attain the number of delegates needed to lock the nomination in the handful of contests left.

Meanwhile, she continues to go after Puerto Rico’s 55 pledged delegates.”*

s the presidential candidates continue to fight it out for a home on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Dominican Republic is holding its presidential election this Friday, bringing Dominicans from across the city to the polls. NY1’s Dean Meminger filed the following report.

Dominican New Yorkers say they want to make sure that their voices are heard and that their votes count back home.

“We need to change the president for another no matter what,” said one Dominican New Yorker. “*

The surprise move by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to authorize the extradition of 14 notorious paramilitary warlords early Tuesday morning to the United States won applause from the Bush administration and was expected to raise his sky-high popularity in Colombia even higher.

But many people fear that sending the men to the United States to be tried on cocaine-trafficking charges will keep victims’ families from receiving any of the promised reparations from the paramilitary leaders.

In a nationwide television address, Uribe said that he agreed to the extradition because the paramilitary leaders had been continuing their criminal activities behind bars and had failed to make restitution.”*

Called the Board of Early Education and Care, the 13-member group will be charged with the coordination and consolidation of a range of education and human services focused on youth.

Isaza, who is in the process of moving to Holyoke, is the senior program officer and manager for grant-making initiatives at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts in Springfield, and is the second Western Massachusetts resident named to the board.”*

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has selected Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) to serve as Assembly Majority Floor Leader.

Torrico, the son of immigrants from Bolivia, is in his second term. He represents the 20th Assembly District, which includes parts of Alameda and Santa Clara counties. He previously served as chair of the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee. “*

When Barack Obama strolled over to the “barrio” last week, he took a calculated risk.

There, in the left corner of the House chamber where Hispanic Democrats gather during floor votes, the presidential candidate walked into territory dominated by fierce loyalists of his Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Protocol demanded that Obama not be too pushy, not too ready to act as the “presumptive nominee,” especially on a day when Clinton had vowed to stay in the presidential race despite Obama’s growing tally of votes for the party nomination.

But he is going to need the Latino leaders — really need them — if he heads the Democratic ticket this year. And the Congressional Hispanic Caucus knows it.”*

The all-Democratic Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which includes 17 Latino members of Congress, has dug in its heels in an effort to bring relief to undocumented workers and their families who are currently being subjected to immigration raids. But in return, it is becoming the target of heavy pressure from the hotel, resort, seafood and other industries.

Last fall, the leadership of the Caucus developed a strategy to create leverage for progress on immigration reform. Concluding that the full package of “comprehensive immigration reform” was not achievable until the Democrats increased their congressional majority and replaced Bush in the White House, the Caucus decided to narrow its focus to measures that would undo the harm being done everyday by the immigration raids and other enforcement procedures ordered by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. So the Caucus tentatively adopted a proposal from grassroots immigrants’ rights activists to provide provisional, renewable five-year visas for most undocumented immigrants now living and working in the United States.”*

An executive order signed by Gov. Janet Napolitano has prompted state police to cancel a $1.6 million agreement with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and, instead, use the money to create a fugitive task force.

The move effectively stripped two squads of Sheriff’s Office deputies from a statewide multiagency team designed to go after crimes dealing with human smuggling. It also took away Arpaio’s ability to tap some of the squad members to supplement immigration sweeps at the state’s expense.

In response, Sheriff Joe Arpaio accused the governor of orchestrating with others to pull the money from his department as political payback. House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, meanwhile, called for an audit of the Department of Public Safety.”*

For many conservatives, John McCain is not their favorite Republican. They think he’s built a career at their expense, painting them as fools and bigots. They resent his holier-than-thou attitude. And they’re not inclined to trust anyone who has been so fawned over by the national media.

Curiously, a lot of liberal Democrats feel the same way about McCain. He isn’t their favorite Republican either - but it’s because they know he’ll be tough to beat in November. They would have preferred to run against someone more extreme and easier to demonize. That’s not John McCain.”*

The race for the Urban County Council District 11 seat has turned into a referendum on immigration.

A districtwide forum Monday night reflected the differences on the issue between incumbent Peggy Henson and challengers Ellen Hollon and Logan Weiler III.

Henson opposes seeking training for police to enforce federal immigration laws in a program called 287(g). Hollon and Weiler support seeking the training.”*

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, the gardener’s son who rose from a San Diego barrio to one of California’s most powerful posts, leaves office Tuesday having arguably fulfilled a vow he made when he was sworn in four years ago: to renew his chamber’s prestige as “the house of ideas.”

But by many accounts, the Los Angeles Democrat and former labor leader failed to keep another pledge: to restore citizens’ faith in government.”*

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s approval of an Indiana law requiring voters to present a state-issued photo identification card at the polls, voting security activists are seeking to take the argument over voter ID one step further, just in time for the presidential election. Missouri lawmakers plan to vote on an amendment to the state constitution that would require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. The amendment would tighten the proofs required for registration in the state. The Missouri Constitution already requires that voters be citizens, but currently, Missourians can show a utility bill as proof of residency and are not required to provide a birth certificate to register to vote.”*

John McCain is generating outrage among a border watch organization for accepting an invitation to a controversial Hispanic group.

Al Garza, national executive director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, is expressing outrage over Senator McCain’s (R-Arizona) planned attendance to the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza. Garza claims the group espouses the re-conquering of the southwestern United States for assimilation back into Mexico.”*

Here in tiny Bruceton Mills — one of the least Hispanic towns in the union’s least Hispanic state, which hosts a Democratic primary today — the subject of illegal immigration has become a hot topic.

“It’s a terrible problem,” said James Britton, who owns Things ‘n Stuff, a combo restaurant-gift shop-hardware store in Bruceton Mills, which according to the U.S. Census has no Hispanic residents.

Britton, a Republican, remains a big fan of Fred Thompson and his anti-immigration sentiments. This fall, he said, he’ll reluctantly vote for John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, whose support for legalization of illegal immigrants rankles many locals.”*

A top official at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville that was the subject of an immigration enforcement action Monday is an active Republican campaign contributor, records show.

Sholom Rubashkin, whose family owns the company, since 2000 has made $23,750 in federal campaign contributions, according to Federal Election Commission records.”*

Look for the fight against illegal immigration to intensify in Dallas’ northwest suburbs.

Carrollton’s next mayor, Ron Branson, said Sunday that he’ll begin working immediately to rid the city of illegal immigrants.

His come-from-behind election victory Saturday night coincided with the expected mayoral win in neighboring Farmers Branch by a better-known activist on the same issue: Tim O’Hare.

“*

Urban Tiger Marketing (UTM), a recently founded marketing company and Gigante USA, a Mexico-based supermarket chain have announced an agreement to place advertisements on grocery carts inside Gigante’s 9 North American stores. The agreement will allow UTM to accept and place political advertisements. Gigante USA is widely believed to be the first retailer willing to accept this type of advertising. “*

President Evo Morales agreed Thursday to stand for election in a nationwide recall vote, gambling that Bolivians will reelect him after just two years in office and shore up support for his pending reforms.

Morales first proposed a nationwide recall referendum in December amid a battle over his draft constitution.”*

Five Latina political scientists, all of them trailblazers in their own field, profile Latina women who were the first to hold key elected and appointed positions in Texas in the recently published book “Políticas” (University of Texas Press, $19.95 paperback).

The book originated in 1998 when the authors participated in a women’s study panel at the University of Texas at San Antonio.”*