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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bris who wrote (23655)	1/9/2004 10:18:28 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793797

Latino vote proves tough to pigeonhole By FRIDA GHITIS [ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 1/9/04 ] Frida Ghitis is a writer living in Decatur. When President Bush launched his new immigration proposal, he fired the first salvo in the battle to capture the Hispanic vote in 2004. Sadly for the president, and for the roaming mercenaries hawking their clever political strategies, there is no such thing as an Hispanic vote. Hispanics, also known as Latinos, now constitute the largest minority in the United States. With numbers approaching 40 million, immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries and their descendants account for more than 13 percent of the country's population, narrowly surpassing African-Americans for the coveted spot. That makes the Latino vote -- and the Latino dollar -- one of the most coveted prizes in the American market. Capturing the Latino vote, however, is a much more complicated task than going after the black vote, or that of most other minorities. The problem for politicians is that Latinos come from dozens of countries; they have widely varying backgrounds and hold a range of differing views on the issues. In fact, in a 2002 poll by the Pew Hispanic Center, only 14 percent said they believe Hispanics share one culture. While it is true that Hispanics tend to identify themselves as Democrats, they also lean toward more conservative social views on matters such as abortion and homosexuality. But political differences between Hispanics and the rest of the U.S. population begin to fade away for Spanish speakers who arrived in the United States at an early age and for the growing percentage born in this country. Some trends do exist, but there is little in common between, say, wealthy Miami Cubans who fled Communism after Fidel Castro took power and impoverished Central Americans looking for a better life in the United States. A Spanish-speaking physician in a major American hospital may sympathize with the plight of a Mexican farm worker in California, but the same political pitch will not work to gain both votes. The catch-all term "Hispanic," now running head-to-head with "Latino" as the favored label, includes millions of U.S.-born American citizens, some of whom have trouble speaking Spanish. It also includes hundreds of thousands of European immigrants, mostly from Spain, who have never set foot in Latin America. America's obsession with counting and categorizing has long put Hispanics in a quandary. When filling out surveys, Hispanics must often decide whether they are white or black or Hispanic, when in reality they are almost always at least two of the three. Hispanics come in black, brown, white and everything in between. Most are Catholics, but there are millions of Protestants, as well as Jews and Muslims. There are gay and straight Hispanics, liberals and conservatives, rich and poor. Many Hispanic families have lived in the United States for generations. They may support or oppose Bush's plan, but their vote will hardly be determined by what the president plans to do about undocumented workers. Like the rest of the country, most Hispanics will make a decision based on other issues close to their heart. Chances are that the economy, the war in Iraq and maybe social questions such as abortion or gay rights will play a more important role in how they cast their vote. A reform of immigration policy is definitely needed, and if an imaginary political gain is what makes it happen, let the politicians' imagination run wild. When the votes are tallied, the pundits will intelligently -- and erroneously -- dissect the "Hispanic vote." The pandering will have failed, so the strategists will get to work once again, looking for a new strategy. Again they will fail, because they're pandering up the wrong tree. Find this article at: ajc.com