WILL ROMNEY HELP GOVERNOR LUIS FORTUñO PUSH FOR PUERTO RICO TO BECOME A STATE?

March 19, 2012 by Jessica Marie Gutierrez 4 Comments

SOURCE AP/LATINO FOX NEWS http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/03/19/puerto-rico-primary-gives-push-to-luis-fortunos-statehood-bid/

The most important issue for Gov. Luis Fortuño during Puerto Rico’s GOP primary may not be at the top of the list for most Latinos, but Mitt Romney hopes his endorsement will help win Latino voters.

Fortuño is pushing for Puerto Rico to become a state—and he sees Romney as an ally.

The former Massachusetts governor sympathizes more openly with Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood camp than his GOP competitors. While Romney’s top rival, Rick Santorum, called on Wednesday for Puerto Rico to adopt English as the island’s official language as a condition for becoming a state, Romney says Puerto Rico should be admitted to the union without such a condition if its citizens decide to vote to join in a referendum scheduled for Nov. 6.

“It just makes sense,” Fortuño told Fox News. “We have been part of the United States since 1898. Natural-born citizens since 1917. Our men and women have served in greater numbers than most states since then. And I believe that it’s the right thing to do in the 21st century, to allow almost 4 million American citizens to express our will and then to work with the White House and hopefully President Romney to address this issue.”

President Barack Obama does not have an official position on Puerto Rico’s status, saying he will respect the decision of the island’s voters.

Only voters affiliated with the Fortuño’s conservative New Progressive Party were permitted to cast ballots in the island’s Republican primary this year – a requirement that obligated pro-Republican Puerto Ricans to declare their support for statehood.

With the combined benefit of Fortuño’s endorsement and Santorum’s gaffes with the local press, Romney cruised to an easy victory, taking some 83 percent of the vote and all of the 20 delegates up for grabs. About 130,000 Puerto Ricans cast votes in Sunday’s primary, according to the Associated Press.

The victory emboldened Romney, who polls poorly among Latinos nationally.

“Those people who don’t think that Latinos will vote for a Republican need to take a look in Puerto Rico,” Romney said. “I intend to become our nominee and I intend to get Latino voters to vote for a Republican.”

A Fox News Latino poll found only 14 percent of likely Hispanic voters favored Romney in a head-to-head race with Obama.

SUMMARY

Puerto Rico Primary By the Numbers

83 percent of vote reported

VOTES PERCENT

Romney 98,375 83%

Santorum 9,524 8%

Gingrich 2,431 2%

Paul 1,452 1%
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Filed Under: LATINO POLITICS Tagged With: Barack Obama, Luis Fortuño, Mitt Romney, Puerto Rico, Republican, Rick Santorum, Romney, United States

FROM HOUSEWIFE TO POLITICA: WATCH THE EVA LONGORIA INTERVIEW IN HER NEW ROLE AS NATIONAL CO-CHAIR FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA

March 19, 2012 by Jessica Marie Gutierrez 3 Comments

THE HISPANIC BLOG IS THE LATEST HISPANIC NEWS BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ

WATCH THE INTERVIEW ON MSNBC CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Actress Eva Longoria talks about her new role as a national co-chair for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign.

>>> poised to become a deciding factor in key states like colorado, new mexico and nevada, the obama campaign is now deploying some star power to sell its message tolatinos . eva longoria shot to fame playing is gabriel solis on the tv show “desperate housewives” now. she joins me now. so nice to meet you. you were very involved in the last election campaign four years ago. you’re taking a larger role now. what is your main purpose and how do you see yourself being helpful to the candidate?

>> i was asked to be a co-chair. my roles are to engage and mobilize the voters specifically with the latino and women ‘s community. those are two areas of interest i participate in heavily and pretty literate about. i’ll be going to swing states .

FLICKR | IMAGINECUP

>> you know a lot about health carey know. and we in fact, profiled you on nbc nightly news because of what you’re doing with special needs community.

>> yes.

>> but the women ‘s issues, women ‘s health issues have become front and center force of what has happened on the republican side . now in texas, interestingly, governor perry has turned back $35 million for planned parenthood preventive programs, including pap tests and mammograms and texas as you know better than i has i think it’s your home state has the highest number of uninsured women .

>> yeah.

photo source: AP

>> do you think this is going to become a mobilizing force?

>> absolutely. the election is going to be about choice and pretty clear for womenwho’s on their side. there is an attack on women ‘s health care and president obama ‘s policies are the only ones that are going to move the agenda for women ‘s rights. there’s so much dismantling of what we’ve accomplished as women by the right side. so i’m going to be out there and campaigning for him. i think one of the things about the affordable care act that just came out was that the gender rating for women , we’re charged more because we go to the doctors more. the affordable care act will eliminate the gender rating for insurers. women need to be educated on everything that obama has done in his first term regarding their rights and access to health care .

>> now, one of the striking things that is quite noticeable is that there are seven co-chair co-chairs who are latino .

>> that’s not a mistake, you know?

http://fotos.starmedia.com/2012/02/eva-longoria-critica-a-mitt-romney-136512.html

>> that is absolutely targeting 16.3% of the population. mitt romney had this to say after winning puerto rico on his chances of doing very well with hispanic voters.

>> those people who don’t think that latinos need to vote for a republican need to look in puerto rico and see there the conservative principles and latino voters go together and hispanic voters are going to vote for republicans if we stand for something, conservative principles that bring growth and good jobs and rising home values. that’s why we’re going to get latino voters to help us out.

>> now, george bush did very well in his first election with hispanic voters.

2011 Eva Longoria / WhoSay

>> right.

>> and that has gone down.

>> he’s also from the state of texas . .

>> do you think that immigration reform is the issue that has —

>> the clip is interesting. he makes a huge generalization because he won the primary so puerto rico voters, republicans who live in puerto rico voted for him is a huge generalization he’s going to get the latino vote. 63% of latinos in america are mexican-american. there’s central americans and of all the candidates, pitt romney is probably the one on the wrong side of every issue pertaining to latinos , education, the economy. he’s campaigning with — he’s causing the anti- immigration law from arizona a model law for the rest of the country. he’s campaigning with the author of it. that is polarizing to latinos . he wants to veto the d.r.e.a.m. act if he was in office. that is dangerous for our community. obama for me is the only one that understands that the success of the future of america is intricately tied to the success of the hispanic community.

>> there have been many hispanic leaders in the last couple years who have been disappointed in the president for not doing more on immigration reform .

>> its an a problem. reform has been on the national agenda for three administrations.

>> even longer.

[photo source: Judy Eddy/WENN.] via Perez Hilton

>> and it does need to be fixed. it’s broken. nobody wants illegal immigration . the misconception is latinos are for illegal immigration . that is not true. i know there’s disappointment in the latino community but what he has done, what he can do, he’s proposed changes to keep families together. he has reallocated resources from thedepartment of homeland security to focus on deporting criminals, not students. so i think also because the gop primary has been so long, all we’ve heard is attacks on his record and that’s what i’m going to be doing is getting out there and showing the great things about what he’s done in his first term. latinos need to hear it.

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Filed Under: LATINO POLITICS Tagged With: Associated Press, Barack Obama, Desperate Housewives, Eva Longoria, Getty Images, hispanic, Hispanic and Latino Americans, JESSICA MARIE, MSNBC, Republican, Texas, United States, Women's rights

HAS SENATOR MARCO RUBIO BUMPED UP HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY TO BE RELEASED BEFORE GOP CONVENTION?

March 19, 2012 by Jessica Marie Gutierrez 1 Comment

Rubio moves publication of memoir before GOP convention

EXCLUSIVE: Marco Rubio, the 41-year-old first-term senator from Florida of Cuban extraction with sterling conservative credentials and matinee star looks, has bumped up the publication of his autobiography from October to June. Politico‘s Mike Allen broke the news this morning. The Sentinel imprint of Penguin Group is moving up the publication of Sen. Marco Rubio’s memoir, “An American Son.” It was originally planned for October but will now go on sale June 19. The jacket is attached, including the flap copy. There will also be a Spanish language edition, “Un Hijo Americano.” Adrian Zackheim, president and publisher of Sentinel: “National interest in Senator Rubio keeps heating up and we want the book out in the world as quickly as possible. It’s important to the Senator and to us that people hear his remarkable story, and that of his family, directly from him.”

See the jacket full size

–Rubio is racing a more critical version, “The Rise of Marco Rubio,” by WashPost’s Manuel Roig-Franzia, edited by Simon & Schuster’s Priscilla Painton, scheduled for release July 3.

–From Rubio’s jacket: “Rubio spent countless hours with his grandfather … ‘Papa’ loved being Cuban, but he also loved America for being a beacon of liberty to oppressed people around the world. As Rubio puts it, ‘My grandfather didn’t know America was exceptional because he read about it in a book. He lived it and saw it with his own eyes. … Conservatism is not about leaving people behind. Conservatism is about allowing people to catch up. … [M]y dad would work banquets at hotels. At these events there are usually only two people standing—the speaker on the podium and the bartender behind the bar. My dad was the one behind the bar. But he worked all his life so that his kids could make the symbolic journey from the bar to the podium.’”

ROMNEY WINS PUERTO RICO’S GOP PRIMARY

March 19, 2012 by Jessica Marie Gutierrez Leave a Comment

THE HISPANIC BLOG IS THE LATEST HISPANIC NEWS BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ

Romney handily wins Puerto Rico‘s GOP primary

Mitt Romney heads in to Illinois’s presidential primary this week with a handy win in Puerto Rico, pocketing the territory’s 20 GOP delegates in a bruising race that has become a numbers game for the Republican nomination.

With about 83% of total ballots accounted for early Monday in Puerto Rico, Romney had garnered more than 98,000 votes — or 83% of the total — based on unofficial results obtained from local party and election officials.

Rick Santorum was a distant second, at 8% with slightly more than 9,500 votes.

The other two candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, were barely registered in the race with 2,431 votes, or 2% of the vote, and 1,452 votes, or 1%, respectively.

Even as the vote was being counted in Puerto Rico, Romney, Santorum and the other candidates were already on the mainland vying for delegates in Illinois and Louisiana.

Illinois holds its primary on Tuesday and Louisiana on Saturday.

CNN’s latest delegate estimates show Romney with 518 delegates to Santorum’s 239. Gingrich has 139 delegates, and Paul, the libertarian champion, has 69 delegates. To secure the nomination, 1,144 delegates are needed.

Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, was in Louisiana late Sunday, where he is expected to win the primary.

Romney was in Illinois where polls indicate he holds a small lead over Santorum, with Gingrich and Paul well behind.

Romney framed his win in Puerto Rico as the territory’s desire for a candidate that “most represents their feelings” — and especially their desire to nominate some who can bring about a stronger economy and a smaller government.

He also said his party can appeal to Latinos, and win the presidency, with a low-tax, pro-business message.

“Those people who don’t think that Latinos will vote for a Republican need to take a look in Puerto Rico,” said the former Massachusetts governor, noting that the territory’s governor and its legislative leaders are conservative.

photo AP

“Hispanic voters are going to vote for Republicans if we stand for something — conservative principles that bring growth and good jobs and rising home values. That’s how we’re going to win, and we’re going to get Latino voters to help us out.”

Romney had entered the contest in Puerto Rico as the favorite. He was largely backed by the island government’s political establishment, including Gov. Luis Fortuno, who campaigned with Romney last week.

Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, created a small political firestorm on the island in the days leading up to the primary when he said English should be the principal language in Puerto Rico before it could gain statehood. Puerto Rico will vote on a statehood referendum in November.

After arriving in Puerto Rico on Friday, Romney said he would have “no preconditions” on language for Puerto Rico to gain statehood, though during a CNN debate in January he said English should be the nation’s official language.

Santorum immediately hit back, accusing Romney of flip-flopping.

Romney fired back that English has been the official language of the government in Puerto Rico for more than 100 years.

The heated, see-saw allegations between the two candidates have marked much of the race for the GOP nomination, which Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, called “the nastiest I’ve ever seen” during an appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

Puerto Rico’s primary came two days before the showdown in Illinois, where 54 delegates will be awarded proportionally and polls show a tight race between Romney and Santorum.

Asked over the weekend while campaigning in Missouri about whether a win in Illinois would mean he’d win the nomination, Santorum said: “We feel very, very good about it. Let’s put it that way. Really good about it.”

Santorum also challenged Romney’s assertion that his business experience is one of his strongest credentials, telling CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union” on Sunday that, “If Gov. Romney thinks that he is the CEO of America and can run and manage the economy, he doesn’t understand what conservatives believe in.”

Romney’s campaign released an ad in Illinois on Friday, attacking Santorum for having “never run a business or a state.”

Santorum on Sunday said he had experience in the private sector as a lawyer, but argued that executive experience at a company is not necessary to be commander-in-chief.

“Running a business is not the same as being president of the United States,” he said.

Santorum also gave no indication that he has plans to drop out of the race should his campaign reach a point where the delegate math doesn’t add up in his favor.

“What I’m hearing is that we want a conservative nominee, that the establishment is trying to push a moderate like they did in 1976 against Ronald Reagan, like they did in 1996 with Bob Dole and what they did with John McCain,” Santorum said. “I think conservatives would like an opportunity to nominate a conservative, and that’s an opportunity.”

Both Santorum and Romney also focused their rhetoric at President Barack Obama, particularly with regard to rising gas prices.

Romney said Obama needed to fire Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for their role in driving up gas prices.

“Given the fact that (Obama has) changed his policies, wants lower gas prices, he needs to fire them and return to the energy policies we need,” Romney said during a town hall meeting in Collinsville, Illinois.

Santorum told a crowd in Effingham, Illinois, to remember Obama at the gas pumps.

“When you see that zero come up, when it gets to the $100 range, when you see the zero, think of ‘O’ for Obama because that’s why you are paying that extra amount of money,” Santorum said.

WHAT ROMNEY SAYS ABOUT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR

March 7, 2012 by Jessica Marie Gutierrez 2 Comments

THE HISPANIC BLOG IS THE LATEST HISPANIC NEWS BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ

Mitt Romney has caught the attention of Latinos with campaign ads that highlight the significance of Sonia Sotomayor‘s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court – but it may not be the kind of attention he wants.

In a pro-Romney radio ad released this week in Ohio, conservative Jay Sekulow says that Rick Santorum‘s 1998 vote to confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the federal circuit court “put her on a path to the Supreme Court.”

When Santorum voted for her confirmation in the late 90s, Sotomayor had been elevated by President Bill Clinton from the federal district court to a seat to the 2nd Circuit U-S Court of Appeals, based in New York.

In 2009, she was still a federal appeals judge when President Barack Obama nominated her to the Supreme Court. And by then Santorum had left the Senate.

In the ad, Romney notes that 29 of Santorum’s colleagues voted against Sotomayor in 1998. The criticism echoes Republican attacks on “activist” or liberal judges.

But, that’s not how it’s being taken by some Latinos. “This unprovoked attack is another example of how Romney and the Republican Party are pushing the Latino vote to Obama,” Angelo Falcon, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy said in his daily online message to pundits and press. “They forget that Judge Sotomayor is an icon for the Latino community. It’s like attacking Martin Luther King or George Washington, for blacks and whites.”

Back in February, Romney used a similar tactic in a Michigan television ad that asked if Santorum is ready to be president. In making it’s case, the ad uses as evidence that he voted for “liberal judge Sonia Sotomayor” and adds that Santorum “opposed creating E-Verify, a conservative reform to curb illegal immigration.”

The Democrats jumped on the issue. “Mitt Romney has shown time and again that he is after the Tea Party vote, not the Latino vote, and with each attack he locks himself more to his extreme positions,” Juan Sepulveda, Democratic National Committee Senior Advisor for Hispanic Affairs, said in a statement.

The tactic also caught the attention of Latino press. Univision’s Tumblr reported on the ads and noted that the last direct attack on Sotomayor came when former candidate Rick Perry called her Montemayor accidently.

The Romney campaign responded to the Univision report with this statement from spokesman Albert Martinez: “Once again President Obama and his liberal allies are resorting to dishonest smears in an attempt to distract Hispanics from his abysmal record as President. Sonia Sotomayor is an activist judge who was handpicked by both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama because of her liberal sympathies and confirmed because Washington insiders like Rick Santorum did nothing to oppose her. This attack says a lot about how President Obama views the Hispanic community, as just another group of Americans he can pander to and divide for political gain.”

Romney’s not the only Republican to attack Sotomayor. Before he was a presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich was criticized by some Latino leaders and members of Congress when, during her confirmation hearings, he tweeted that she was a racist for having once said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion.” That was in 2009.

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Filed Under: LATINO POLITICS Tagged With: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, latino, Mitt Romney, National Institute for Latino Policy, Republican, Rick Santorum, Romney, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court of the United States

WILL ROMNEY HELP GOVERNOR LUIS FORTUñO PUSH FOR PUERTO RICO TO BECOME A STATE?

FROM HOUSEWIFE TO POLITICA: WATCH THE EVA LONGORIA INTERVIEW IN HER NEW ROLE AS NATIONAL CO-CHAIR FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA

WATCH THE INTERVIEW ON MSNBC CLICK HERE TO WATCH