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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (241741)	3/25/2002 1:39:57 PM
From: rich4eagle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Are you?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (241741)	3/25/2002 2:32:28 PM
From: Mr. Whist	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

The big lie of GOP diversity. All Republicans who think their party is on the right track should read this most excellent column, which ran (surprise, surprise) in the right-wing Cincinnati Enquirer on Sunday. By J.R. Labbe Forth Worth Star-Telegram If your name starts with an X and ends with a vowel or a Z, the odds of getting elected to public office in Texas as a Republican are somewhere between slim and miraculous. Texas has come a long way - not always in the right direction - since the days when Lorenzo de Zavala served as the republic's first vice president. Xavier Rodriguez's defeat in Tuesday's Republican primary may have put a big fat lie to the GOP's supposed embrace of diversity, at least in the Lone Star State. A sitting Supreme Court justice - endorsed by virtually every major newspaper in the state and supported by none other than President George W. Bush hisself - was beat by a private practice attorney with the Wonder-Bread-and-mayonnaise name of Steven Wayne Smith. The names, in truth, should be beside the point. Unfortunately, for entirely too many voters, the name is the only information they have when it comes to deciding. In a state that elects its judges, precious few people take the time to research the candidates to determine what they stand for. They use insignificant qualifiers like name, gender or placement on the ballot. That's like letting your kid fill out your NCAA tournament bracket based on which team mascots she likes best. In that case, all you might lose is the five bucks it cost to get into the office pool. Elect an unqualified judge, or one who sees his role as an activist on the bench, and the consequences are potentially more dire. Smith's primary campaign literature outlined a judicial platform that included "standing up for the English language." In a March 11 news release, he said that Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General John Cornyn aren't true conservatives because they are learning how to speak Spanish. What is that all about? It isn't as if Perry and Cornyn have said they want to elevate Spanish to the official language of the state. Gracious, they should be applauded for their efforts, particularly in a state in which the fastest-growing ethnic group - and potential new voters - is Hispanic. Bush understands the personal and political value of being bilingual, and of his party's need to welcome diversity. One wonders: Do Smith and those of like mind think that makes the president a moderate? During the 2000 Republican National Convention, the party's leadership and image shapers worked hard to portray Bush as a "different kind of Republican" who could appeal to voters "not typically aligned with the GOP." Translation: Black and Hispanic voters can find reasons to support this guy. Bush in fact may be different. His Cabinet and top-level advisers reflect a refreshing mix of gender, race and ethnicity. The rest of the party, however, trails behind in that enlightenment. The GOP's problem isn't just one of convincing minority voters to support its candidates, although that remains a huge hurdle that only got higher in Texas with the Democratic Party's "dream team" tricolor slate for November. Tony Sanchez for governor, Ron Kirk for U.S. Senate (OK, so that may be premature - his race with Victor Morales won't be finalized until the April 9 runoff, but the smart money is on the former mayor of Dallas and not the schoolteacher from Crandall) and John Sharp for lieutenant governor make a heavy-hitter lineup. No, the Republicans must do a better job of recruiting and supporting candidates with names like Gonzales and Garza and Rodriguez. Tuesday's Democratic primary underscored a hard truth in Texas: The Hispanic vote is essential. If the Republicans want to continue to win, the party must attract Hispanics voters and candidates, and that can't be done by ignoring them and/or voting against them. Rodriguez should not have been the Republican Party's Supreme Court nominee just because he's Hispanic. That would be as wrong-headed as not voting for him because of his ethnicity. Rodriguez should be the nominee because he was the best candidate in that race, who just happens to be Hispanic. Every time Election Day rolls around, newspaper pundits feel required to write the obligatory "go out there and do your civic duty" editorial in an attempt to nudge folks to the ballot box. Just once, it would be nice to see an editorial that says if you haven't taken the time to learn about the candidates, to know more about them than whether their surnames sound "foreign" or "American," stay home on Election Day. Jill "J.R." Labbe is a Star-Telegram senior editorial writer. dfw.com