Tag Archives: presidential election

MIGRANTS: Republicans and Latinos

Here’s another commentary about what Republicans need to do to earn any kind of decent percentage of the Latino vote in November. (I’ve read several of these now.)

Polls I’ve heard have Romney getting 28 percent of Latino vote. This story says 26 percent, less than John McCain polled in 2008. Romney met with a Latino coalition the day after his wife spoke, according to La Opinion, hoping to cultivate some better feelings.

Yet all this will be hard to accomplish. The R leaders may want to de-emphasize the strident rhetoric, but Rs on the ground don’t seem willing to go along.

To wit: A Puerto Rican delegate to the RNC was shouted down with chants of “U-S-A” when she began to speak in her accented English. (See video above)

PBS’s Ray Suarez provides some context to the event, which explain it as something other than what the video makes it appear, though this may not make it more palatable to Latinos.

And of course, the peanut incident — where delegates threw peanuts at a black CNN camerawoman saying, “this is how we feed animals” isn’t probably going to help much, either.

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FOR THE RECORD: Gangs and Mexican governors’ races

UCLA criminologists have published a study showing that most gang violence occurs where gang territories meet, and thus are where gangs are most likely to run into each other and be in competition — not, I would say, a surprising conclusion, but interesting to see the school take on the topic, nevertheless.

The authors draw their conclusions from studying LAPD’s Hollenbeck division, 563 gang shootings involving 13 gangs.

Meanwhile, Mexico scholar George Grayson has published an article on the Mexican presidential election and its effect on various Mexican governors’ races. Grayson is always interesting to read. Check it out

 

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MEXICO: Mexican Spring?

I’ll be talking about the Mexican presidential elections today on KPCC, with Larry Mantle, host of Air Talk, beginning at 11 a.m. Please tune in.

Meanwhile, an interesting column from academic Guillermo Trejo about the rise of the Occupy-like student movement, Yo Soy 132, and whether it can influence the Mexican presidential election next Sunday.

Polls showed that the movement drained frontrunner Enrique Pena Nieto, of the PRI, of a good part of his c0mmanding lead, while Andrew Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the left PRD, surged to within a few points of him in some surveys.

The movement has put the issue of the manipulation by the Mexican media conglomerates — Televisa and Television Azteca — to the forefront of the campaign, where it deserves to be.

Still, it’s unclear whether 132 has enough oomph to push AMLO ahead for good. Should be an interesting election.

More soon on Pena Nieto and his political forefathers.

 

 

 

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