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On Monday NBC Latino reported that New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez will deliver a keynote address at the Republican National Convention:
“‘Americans want to work,’ said Governor Martinez in a written statement following the announcement. ‘They want to build their businesses, compete and succeed in order to create more jobs – Mitt Romney knows this is the formula for our economic growth,’ she stated. The Governor added the convention will give Romney the momentum he needs, as he seeks to win the November election.”
It’s understandable that Romney’s message of free-market economics should speak to a segment of the Latino population. Latinos, it isn’t underscored enough, are not a monolith. While some Latinos (progressives) value social issues above economics, there are still others who argue that economic liberty is the cure for all sorts of ills, as is their right to do.
But it will be interesting to see where Governor Martinez falls on Romney’s immigration stance. Even though she’s been a fierce opponent of her state’s law granting driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, she’s also come out against Arizona-style laws and has openly criticized Romney’s so-called “self-deportation policy,” asking “What the heck does that even mean?”
A recent study showed that 90 percent of Latinos support the DREAM Act, and though immigration may not top the list of concerns for most Latino voters, it’s still a pivotal issue throughout the community. A politician in any party can’t draw a hard line on immigration policy and expect most Latinos not to notice.
So if Governor Martinez wants Latinos to vote for her party, she’ll have to convince its members to soften their stance toward the undocumented.
About Being Latino Contributors
Sorry guys I don’t vote for sellouts. And a Latino Republican is pretty much that in a nutshell
Republicans need to stop thinking and acting like all Latinos are undocumented, racial profiling, and maybe, just maybe they might get some latino votes!
Ron Paul 2012
its not that I don’t like her being elected as a Gov. but me voting Republican, is not going to happen.but thats just me..
Yeah Ron Paul still a Republican, no thanks
A nice column. However, I ask: Why does the GOP need to take a softer stance on illegal immigration? Again, we’ll continue to disagree on this. If Latinos as a whole want to be seen as being part of the USA, you’re going to have to understand that we are a nation of laws, and do not take kindly to lawbreakers. As a Latino, and like millions of other Latinos, we stand firmly for the rule of law. You can’t tell us to accept the illegals just because they are Latinos (for the most part), and just let it be. It’s not the way it works here, and it doesn’t work in Mexico either when illegals go crossing into their sovereign.
How is she a sellout? New Mexico is kicking California’s collective ass in jobs and they are below the national unemployment rate. The people of New Mexico elected a Latina as governor of a frontera state despite her stand. The best you leftist Latinos can say is that she’s a sellout and then try to ignore her accomplishments. The difference between a [r]epublican and a lefty, is that she will be vetted by her accomplishments not by her Census category.
Kev: It’s called Mental Midgetry.
@ Lee – we are a nation of immigrants – we are human first. Laws are secondary and are made to oppress.
I blame the schools for not teaching critical thinking. Some folks can’t stand to look at both sides and reach a conclusion.
Jorge: You speak nonsense, cliches.
Jorge: You’re statement above, alone, makes you too stupid to really take seriously. If laws are secondary and made to oppress, then I assume you are in jail serving time for murder, rape, robbery, thus you are oppressed by the system because you couldn’t do what you wanted to do. Am I right? What nonsense do you speak!
Oh I get it “Lee” and “Kev” I am a PROUD leftist by the way cause I actually KNOW where I came from and I don’t try to do the uncle tom bit that seems so very easy for your kind. I suppose then LEE that since segregation was the “law” of the land at one point and you are such a “law” abider that you should be ok with that. That doesn’t make you a law abider that makes you a robot and an automaton and yes a sell out as well. For the record and to enlighten your ignorance nobody is proposing a free for all when it comes to immigration but a more rational solution that ACTUALLY takes into consideration families and the human perspective, not just the excuse used by Republicans to hide their inherent racism (amply documented in New Mexico) behind the veneer of laws that, whaddaya know, we have a right to challenge. I am being objective by only calling her a pathetic sellout and not a monster. I can be generous:)
Regardless your kind is nothing but a fringy minority when it comes to Latinos, but worry not they will put you first in line at the next Republican convention for that photo op, they NEED all of you guys:)
Uhhh, Nope. Republican?? I think not!!!!
We are not just a nation of immigrants. We are 50 states (countries) with 50 governors, that are made up of individuals that come to this country because of our Constitution, the freedom that their home countries do not protect, and the opportunity to succeed. We are a country without a dictator, but an elected representative Congress. If you refuse to assimilate to our foundations, why just not stay in the communist-based oppressive dictatorship from which you are migrating from?
Mik: Actually, segregation was bad, as was Plessy and Dred Scott, no doubt our nation has done a few bad things. However, this is 2012, not 1965, 1925, 1865 or farther beyond. So, don’t be a jackass by putting me into that mold, moron. Now, to enlighten your feeble brain, it’s not the GOP but the Democrat party and its polities that have done far more harm for Latinos as a whole than any GOP policy. All you have to do is look at the Latino communities across this nation, and who and what party controls these districts. You look at the schools, the crime, the scarcity of jobs, etc, go down the list and you’re telling me it’s the GOPs fault? Stop embarrasing yourself. Gov. Martinez is a gem because she is actually operating outside the Democrat plantation, and making it known to Latinos that the GOP is worth looking at.
Mayor Castro is an accomplished man himself, and has more to offer to the Democratic Party than just his ethnicity. He was an excellent choice to be the Key Note Speaker. As for the Leftist comments..why is when we Liberal Minded Latinos speak out we are only Liberal because we do not know better? I am an informed voter and I will refuse to vote for a Party that continues to divide this nation with laws like those of Arizona and does everything in efforts to make it harder for people to vote. My family arrived in this country before there were closed boarders.I am a Proud American, but I also know my family didn’t come here for me to forget their struggle. You can continue with this Us and Them attitude but in the end, legal or undocumented, those who blame immigrants for everything wrong with America see you as just another illegal.
Many here seem to prefer to have “selective memories”. This was a nation BUILT ON THE BACKS OF IMMIGRANTS! Or do you all think that the Irish, the Italians, etc. were not immigrants when they first arrived here??? Some also seem to forget that this Nation were slaves to the British? And it wasn’t just blacks and slavery. Get real here! The Republicans are courting our votes, we are a powerful voting block. They realize they CANNOT win without our vote. Putting a Latino here and there? Does NOT a fair nation make!
Kev: What I see are a bunch of ingrates looking for handouts (Pathway to citizenship, DREAM, Assistance) and no repercussion for being in the USA illegally. My Dominican mother calls them Wiseasses. They think they can fool people by crying crocodile tears of oppression. LOL
^ I don’t blame immigrants(lawful or not) for wanting to come here. But, I do have issues with illegal immigrants demanding freebies and benefits that many Americans don’t qualify. Especially when other immigrants have sacrificed and recognized the protections that this country offers.
@ Kev….THAT CONGRESS HELD BACK ANY PROJECTS THAT MADE SENSE FOR THIS COUNTRY. Why??? Because they’re not there to work! They’re there for one purpose only: Get Obama out! And this is where our tax dollars go? Wouldn’t you like to have their perks? Their top of the line health insurance?? Sorry! But that’s not for THE PEOPLE THAT PAY THEIR SALARIES! Puleeze.
Oh, and Kev. Where the hell should I migrate to?? New York City where I was born?? LOL What a dork!
And Lee will say in 5 years “This is not 2012″ lol this pathetic attempt to whitewash,in soooo many ways in his case, a long history of abuse of minorities and poor people and Latinos tell me ALL I need to know about you. By the way I suggest you learn the meaning of what you are saying, FEEBLE my ignorant friend is to actually BUY into a history of abuse and then repeat it with a smile on your face like a parrot. THAT is not only feeble but pathetic as well. I don’t embarrass myself by reminding you that most Latinos are wise enough to never buy your uncle Tom devotion. Also my FURTHER ignorant friend I do not vote Democrat. Of course that may ruin your simple or should we call it “feeble” brain?:) Lastly is it your party and its policy of corporate welfare aka sleeping with the boss that has not only ruined Latino communities by destroying the industrial base of the country but most communities period (Don’t worry the democrats haven’t done much better either, you guys just do it with nasty abandon)
@ Lee….when my family came to this country in the late 30′s and 40′s, they came here to WORK AND BETTER THEMSELVES! And THAT THEY DID! We were passed a work ethic through our Parents! A HANDOUT??? I think not! Not my family! We have always studied, worked and made our own way. So Sir…you may PUT THE BROAD BRUSH YOU LIKE TO USE AWAY! Stereotyping is not my thing…but please don’t make me talk about the Dominicans! Thank You!!!