Welcoming Hispanics to the TNDP

Here are some interesting stats from think tank NDN on the 2008 election:

1. Hispanics participated in record numbers in this election cycle, increasing their turnout from the 2004 election.
2. Hispanics significantly shifted towards the Democratic Nominee in
2008 reversing trends from the 2000 and 2004 presidential election
cycles.
3. Hispanics played a key role in Obama’s victory in Colorado, Florida,
Nevada and New Mexico.
4. Hispanics are poised to make other states competitive in future
elections.
5. If these trends continue, the national map will continue to get
harder for Republicans.

Latinos traditionally have been Republican, but due to the maligning of the undocumented workers by calling them "illegal aliens", "wetbacks", or "Hispaniel" as Republican State Legislator Eric Watson referred to them, many Latinos felt this was an unfair attack on all Hispanics. Hispanic Nashville reported today that 75% of Hispanic Tennesseans are here legally. The TNDP needs to embrace and reach out to welcome Hispanics into the Party. Obama is already working on helping all of us out, including our fellow Latinos, through fair and comprehensive immigration reform that does not insult a whole class of people. Plus, his selection of top notch Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court was a wise choice. When the Republicans attacked her, it sounded suspect since she was an acceptable choice when George H.W. Bush first picked her.

Politico put it bluntly how important the stakes are in winning the Hispanic vote in this article last month:

The Republican Party has scarcely begun to repair a wound that threatens to confine it to minority status: its 2006 collapse among Hispanic voters.

Driven by some Republicans’ sharp attacks on illegal immigration and — as many Hispanics perceived it, immigrants in general — Latino voters fled the GOP en masse in the midterm elections, then turned on John McCain, as well.

He got 31 percent of the Latino vote to the 44 percent that George W. Bush took in 2004, according to exit polls. And it was enough to put much of the West and Southwest out of reach for the Republican Party, to give Florida to the Democrats and to hand Barack Obama the presidency.


President Obama vowed to make immigration reform a top priority in his administration. He recognized the importance and need for stronger border security and protection of workers. Right now, there are some 12 million undocumented workers in the US. Their employers are breaking the law by hiring them. The illegal action of the employers to circumvent fair pay and treatment in the U.S. should have repercussions. The Obama administration has already implemented faster and better background checks for people coming into the United States. If you are interested in reading more about immigration reform, go here to White House. gov.

We, as Democrats, need to work together towards a secure and fair immigration policy. We should not engage in name calling or marginalizing whole groups of people because of where they were born. It is offensive and repugnant to do this. This is the behavior of Republicans not Democrats, we are a big tent party and welcome diversity.