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| Terry McAuliffe Continues to Lead Dems To Political Suicide | ||
| 2003-06-03 | ||
| The chairman of the Hispanic caucus of the Democratic National Committee said yesterday that there is a "disconnect" in the party regarding the minority vote and accused it of scrapping a $1.5 million plan to attract Hispanics. Alvaro Cifuentes, who also chastised the DNC leadership for failure to hire Hispanics, announced a three-day summit for party Hispanics in September that will be "completely funded on our own, separate from the DNC." "There is obviously a problem in the party with Hispanic and Latino issues," Mr. Cifuentes said. "We've been trying for the past two years to address them." The DNC did not return calls for comment. The $1.5 million "Hispanic Project" was to be a vast, annual effort that included a get-out-the-vote campaign, recruitment of Hispanic candidates and establishment of satellite offices in key states. The summit is a result of indifference from the party's leadership, Mr. Cifuentes said. It is to be held in Albuquerque, N.M. "We aren't waiting around for anybody to put an agenda together anymore," he said. The dilemma is "an interesting problem," said Steven Ybarra, a caucus member who leads the Pacific region for the DNC. Code phrase for "I'm mad as hell". "Terry McAuliffe made a pledge to make sure that the voters who were critical were turned out and that we would have the proper resources to make that happen in 2004," Mr. Ybarra said, in reference to the DNC chairman. "And none of that happened." If I were (shudder) a Democrat, I would demand McAuliffe's head on a platter. He is being decisively outmaneuvered but he is also causing many problems. Witness the snafu last week in firing several aides - all of whom were black. See below. Donna Brazile was quite unhappy. "It will make the job in 2004 all the tougher," Mr. Ybarra added. The "job" entails overtaking Republican gains in luring the Hispanic vote, which has become a Republican Party mandate. Republicans were further encouraged by a May 2002 poll sponsored by the Democratic Party that found allegiance waning among Hispanics. The rancor from the DNC's Hispanic caucus follows the revelation last week that the national committee planned to terminate 10 black employees as part of a financial retooling to take on the Republican money machine in the 2004 elections. Mr. McAuliffe called the firing plans a mistake and a misunderstanding and said the employees would not be laid off. The Democratic Party has long held most of the minority vote in national elections. In 2000, Al Gore received 66 percent of the Hispanic vote and 92 percent of the black vote.
Being from Denver I know of Martinez. Very powerful politically although she lost a primary election to Pat Schroeder's successor - Deanna DeGette. The point is that she is a total partisan. If she's coming out publicly, there is definitely something amiss with McAuliffe and the DNC. She also said the Hispanic Project was no longer being considered by top party officials. "I think we're going to have to sit down with Terry and let him know that this is not a good message that is being sent out by the party," she said. "What Hispanics want to be is part of the solution, not the problem." Mr. Cifuentes sent a memo to the 40 caucus members last week after public reports of the planned layoffs of the black employees. In it, he noted that seven Hispanics had left the DNC after the midterm elections. The DNC has reported that 10 percent of its employees are Hispanic and 30 percent are black. And isn't the population of the nation something like 20% Hispanic and growing? Wow, using the tactics of the Democrats, this is clearly racially motivated. Several sources, including some staffers, yesterday denied the figures, saying there are four Hispanics among the 100 DNC employees.
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| Posted by:ColoradoConservative |
| #7 So the DNC cancelled the 1.5 mil get-out-the-vote campaign, personally I think that was wise. Hispanics are more naturally aligned with the Republican party. Since GW has a track record of including them in the process as equal partners, rather than as lackeys, chances are they will vote accordingly. The DNC would be much wiser to spend that 1.5 million on getting out the vote from the graveyards, purchasing cigarettes for the indigent or bussing convicted felons to the polls. Who else but the dead or brain dead would vote for these fools? |
| Posted by: Becky 2003-06-03 13:26:21 |
| #6 Bill Mahr? the guy from Politically Incorrect |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2003-06-03 12:40:44 |
| #5 Who's Bill Mohr? |
| Posted by: MusicMan 2003-06-03 12:08:27 |
| #4 As a Democrat(Big Grin) --I'll agree about wanting someone's head on a platter--let's start with Gore, Daschle, Gephardt first--the poorest, sorry ass excuses for party leaders in history then worry about McAuliffe. And talk about a "disconnect" with minority voters!? The disconnect is with the entire Democratic base--they have NO agenda and have given Bush everything he wants without a whimper. I'm starting to feel like Bill Mohr--might as well vote for the REAL Republican instead of the faux one!! |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2003-06-03 11:55:05 |
| #3 Why do the Hispanics vote for the Dems? They are against everything they stand for: Familia, Religión, and honest work. After the Estrada debacle I would not count on the Hispanic vote if I were a Dem. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC California Chapter) 2003-06-03 11:52:01 |
| #2 Quite fitting that the Dems are feeling the steel of the double-edged race sword. |
| Posted by: MusicMan 2003-06-03 11:33:33 |
| #1 there is a lot of Dem infighting between the hispanic and black caucuses. They've played the race/vitimization and zero-sum cards so often that any gains by one group is seen to be at the expense of the other. Most clearly seen when multi-racial checkboxes were used in the census - they screamed bloody murder because it would diminish the clout of each racial categories' "leaders". Good luck Dems, you'll need it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-06-03 10:52:15 |