Florida Hispanics sticking with GOP

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Florida Hispanics sticking with GOP
With polls showing John McCain leading among Hispanics in Florida, Barack Obama rolled out Spanish- language ads calling his rival out of touch.
Posted on Tue, Sep. 23, 2008

BY BETH REINHARD, CASEY WOODS AND JOSE PAGLIERY
[e-mail]

As Democrat Barack Obama headlines a rally Wednesday during his second campaign swing through Florida in as many weeks, he faces a challenge in the diverse battleground state: winning over Hispanics.

He's 10 percentage points behind Republican John McCain among Hispanics in Florida, according to a Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll released Sunday that showed a tight race overall. McCain is favored by Hispanics 51 to 41 percent in the survey. The poll's margin of error for the Hispanic voter numbers is 10.6 percentage points.

A Mason-Dixon poll released Tuesday showed McCain leading by 6 percentage points among Hispanics; that lead is within the margin of error.

~snip~
Obama's current drag among Hispanics could hurt the Democratic Party's chances of unseating three South Florida Cuban-American Republicans in Congress -- Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen -- said Roland Sanchez-Medina, vice president of the Cuban-American Bar Association.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/698916.html

[grannie4peace]

1. they are stuck in a time warp!!!!!

[Joe Chi Minh]

2. ... or the polling people are.

[maseman]

21. Quit blaming the fucking polling companies

None are perfect and some may slant a little. But overall they do paint the picture of what is going on. When we blame a polling company for numbers we don't like then we are buying our heads in the sand.

[Joe Chi Minh]

28. Get lost. You're a fool. It's a truism among the political class.

I've just been reading a book of reminiscences by people who knew Hunter Thompson. At one of the political get-togethers, I think in support of Bill Clinton, one of the "attendees" was a pollster. And he mentions them in another book of his, probably, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, when he refers to them, implicitly as a campaign tool. It's not a close secret.

Since 2000, each election has seen a massive increase in Democratic voters, and this time, it seems to be higher than ever. You'd have to be a half-wit to believe that this is a close race in any shape or form, granted a non-fraudulent count by the Republicans - who, of course, have already removed thousands if not tens of thousands from voter rolls. And if it wasn't close, all the more reason, arguably to ignore the polls. They have an atrocious track record.

If you're a pollster, my apologies. Get an honest job.

[EFerrari]

33. Look at the margin of error and look at the results again.

The poll is cr@P, this article is spin and I'm so glad Judi Lynn posted this.

This is naked propaganda and the Obama campaign needs to get all over it.

[zonkers]

27. A racist time wharp.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. They are lumping

All Hispanics together. Are they Cubans? That would indeed make a difference. I live and work and play amongst people who either they themselves or their families hailed from Colombia, El Salvador, Argentina, Spain, Puerto Rico, Chile - None of these folks are buying McCain's b.s..

[FlaGranny]

4. Of course they're Cubans. n/t

[Baby Snooks]

19. The Cubans....

They are considered "white" and they consider themselves "white" and dislike the term "Hispanic" because it lumps them in with people they believe are not really "Spaniards" which they believe themselves to be and who of course are considered "white."

Of course in terms of religious influence, most "Hispanics" including Cubans are Roman Catholic so they like the "morality" of the Republican Party. Which is contrary, really, to the morality of the Roman Catholic Church in terms of compassion and taking care of the poor.

And then there is the prejudice. No one talks about it. But it's there.

Hispanics in general do not like African-Americans. They don't like the association with other minorities. They also believe they are "white" in some ways. But there is also a resentment in some areas of the country over the perception that African-Americans get a bigger piece of the "government assistance" pie.

It's not nice, certainly not politically correct, to talk about such things. But Hillary Clinton used such things in an attempt to win the primaries and the nomination. So we should talk about such things.

[AlphaCentauri]

26. Many hispanics are black, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Hondurans

There are many black hispanics that don't like to be considerer African-Americans, because of the cultural differences and the portrait of African Americans as crack users who do not like marriage.

Now let's talk about the rejection of hispanics by African-Americans who have been make to believe by the racist groups that hispanics are taking the welfare resources and opportunities from them.

Both groups are victims of the same racist divisions promoted by the elites who sustain powers in all levels of society.

[Judi Lynn]

6. South Florida, the Miami area and surrounding towns like Hialeah, etc, have a huge Cuban

population.

Their three Congresspeople are Cuban Republican right-wingers, very tight with the _Bushes.

The _Bush's grandfather, Preston, used to own land in Cuba, as well, along with the families of the major Cuban "exiles" who fled immediately after the Revolution to Florida, New Jersey.

You may remember seeing the Cuban "rent-a-rioters," "Vigilia Mambisa," called out by their Cuban hate-radio stations to protest, crowding around the Miami-Dade vote recounting center in the 2000 Presidential election, with their "Gore-Loserman" signs.

[Loge23]

13. Me too, very little support for McCain

It's the same old gang that's still supporting McCain.
Do I have to mention the defining characteristic?
It's all there in black and white.

[JustAnotherGen]

37. Getting back to this late

My neice is a wonderful mosaic of Black, Native American and European Ancestry from my family - her mother is Puerto Rican.

Yes - I'd definately say she (at 15) sees this bickering.

On the Spanish front - I have a friend directly from Spain. You ought to hear him talk about 'Latinos' - including Cubans! ;-)

[liberal N proud]

5. I don't understand why?

[BulletproofLandshark]

7. They're still carrying old grudges.

IMO there's a lot of Cubans in South Florida that supported Batista in his day, and they're still bitter over how the Revolution turned out.

[LiberalFighter]

16. They are too lazy to go back to Cuba and do their own fighting.

[mitchum]

35. THe Miami Crybabies are too lazy to do ANYTHING but suck up tax $$$$ and...

hijack US foreign policy for decades

[truthisfreedom]

8. Pffft! Ask them in 2 weeks.

They'll be singing a different tune.

[Suji to Seoul]

9. What pisses me off are the Cubans in Miami were part of Batista's hierarchy

or benefited from his regime. They hate Castro because they lost their power and prestige.

They are Republicans out of self-interest. Hell, their most famous, Gloria Estefan, Cuban-American star had a father who was one of Batista's own personal bodyguards!

I am sick of hearing about their voting Republican. I am sick of hearing about people like this, like moron undecided voters, the heartland voter and these Cubans who hate Democrats.

[blueknight]

10. i was i south florida in june and july,

and of the cubans i spoke with, i dont think i talked to one obama supporter

[Judi Lynn]

11. You bet they were part of butcher Batista's hierarchy! F'r instance, Rafael Diaz Balart was a lawyer

for the American United Fruit Company's business in Cuba, became the Speaker of the House, a Senator, then Batista appointed him to his own cabinet where he served until the revolution, and he ran to Miami.



Rafael Diaz-Balart

His son, also a gas bag, is Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, his younger son, Mario is also a Congressman, and another son, Mario now works with Univision, huge Spanish television network, but formerly worked at the U.S. taxpayer-supported, "exile" controlled Radio Marti, a real black hole for millions and millions of dollars annually.



Cuban Congressmen Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and younger brother Mario are in the back, from left to right, behind _{Jeb Bush} (always a Cuban "exile" ally) and Cuban Senator Mel Martinez, appointed by _{George W. Bush} to head his H.U.D.

Rafael Diaz-Balart's sister, Mirta Diaz-Balart, was the first wife of Fidel Castro. Bitter divorce. She lives in Spain after two remarriages.



Fidel Castro, Mirta Diaz-Balart

Cuban criminals assisted Richard M. Nixon as the "Watergate Burglars," broke into the office of "Pentagon Papers" Daniel Elsberg's psychiatrist, and operated in many functions in Iran/Contra, etc., etc., etc.

[Kolesar]

17. Nice summary!

I would have thought that the GOP "hate the Mexicans" message would have made Florida Latinos to favor the Democrats (even Cuban-Americans (!)). Maybe John McCain's advocacy of immigration reform is working for him. I recall that at one of the debates, McCain said: "they are all God's children", and that they should be treated with compassion.

[ShortnFiery]

12. If Obama doesn't take the courageous step from distancing himself from the SCAM bail-out

I don't know about my beloved party. Right now I'm livid with Schumer, Franks and Dodd. :(

[Patsy Stone]

14. Cubans, not all Hispanics

and older Cubans mostly. They're still voting Kennedy out of office for flubbing the Bay of Pigs, and they vote based on Cuba's best interests, not America's.

[Newsjock]

15. The headline is utter bullcrap

The story says it: "He's 10 percentage points behind Republican John McCain among Hispanics in Florida, according to a Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll released Sunday that showed a tight race overall. ...The poll's margin of error for the Hispanic voter numbers is 10.6 percentage points."

So, in other words, "Florida Hispanics" might not be "sticking with GOP" after all.

[RoyGBiv]

23. Holy Sheep Dip - 10.6 MOE?

That's absurd. This poll isn't valid at all.

[EFerrari]

30. Exactly. If this is true, I'll never eat black beans again.

lol

[timtom]

18. Still got that stupid Bay of Pigs anti Kennedy thing going for them.

Kinda like the Holocaust. Okay! We got it! It's now 2008! Let's focus.

[atjrpsych]

20. talk about self-sabotaging

Don't people realize what is in their best interest? Don't they have the ability to think beyond superifical impressions?

[glinda]

22. THEY NEED SOMEONE LIKE THEM WITH THEIR INTERESTS

TO CAMPAIGN DOWN THERE AND TELL THEM THEY ARE MAKING A MISTAKE.

[EFerrari]

29. I absolutely do not believe this poll.

For one thing, the hardline anti-Castro Cubans have to be nearly 100 years old by now. And their kids and THEIR kids are all more and more liberal than they are.

:shrug:

[AlphaCentauri]

24. Show them Tom Tancredo's GOP position: Miami 'Third World Country'

GOP Rep. Calls Miami 'Third World Country'
MIAMI, Nov. 30, 2006
A Colorado congressman who likened Miami to a "third world country" defended his comments in a letter to Gov. Jeb Bush, saying fewer city residents consider themselves Americans.

Bush had earlier responded to the remarks made by Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., after the congressman criticized the city's poverty and crime while attending an immigration conference in Palm Beach over the weekend.

Tancredo, a vocal supporter of the anti-illegal immigration movement in the U.S. House, made his initial comments to WorldNetDaily, a conservative online new site, his spokesman Carlos Espinosa said.

"Look at what has happened to Miami. It has become a Third World country. You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace. You would never know you're in the United States of America. You would certainly say you're in a Third World country," Tancredo said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/30/politics/main2217944.shtml

[mitchtv]

31. Cubanz don't worry about immigration

They have a special deal, and they consider themselves above the undocumenteds.They come here and the green card is waiting along with all the social welfare programs' They should be rewarded for their GOP support with the repeal of the Cuban Readjustment Act.

[Judi Lynn]

32. The Third World image is quickly brought to mind recalling a quote from the little Cuban tyrant,

who truly ran Miami Cuban politics for decades, Jorge Mas Canosa who died several years ago, and gave the community the first real room to breathe since the early 1980's, when he and Ronald Reagan sucked up a ton of power, and dictated U.S. policy on Cuba:

7/1/94 7/31/94 The Miami Herald reprints an interview with Jorge Mas Canosa from the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Mas Canosa was asked by El Pais whether he believed Americans would take over Cuba if Fidel Castro fell. The Herald quoted Mas Canosa as saying, in part"They haven't even been able to take over Miami! If we have kicked them out of here, how could they possibly take over our own country?" (MH, 7/28/94; WP, 7/28/94)

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:xQqmOHDYWkoJ:cuban-exile.com/doc_126-150/doc0146b.html+Jorge+Mas+Canosa+%22El+Pais%22+%22They+haven%27t+even+been+able+to+take+over+Miami%22&hl=en

[still_one]

25. Hey Florida, how is your realestate market doing? Are thing better

in Florida than they were eight years ago

Sorry, but Florida, pull your head out of your ass and realize that the republicans have destroyed your economy

[EFerrari]

34. I think the Miami Herald's motto is "We'll Print Anything!"

It's not Latinos in FL, it's the Herald printing baloney.

[Arugula Latte]

36. The Castro generation is dying off and we will see more and more Cubans come to our side.