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National GOP woos Oregon
Hispanics
Party's leader visits state for
Hispanic Heritage Month
GABRIELA
RICO
Statesman Journal
http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050915/NEWS/509150338/1001
September 15, 2005
TIGARD -- Hispanics believe in hard
work, have a strong sense of faith and family and are
patriotic, a top Republican Party leader said Wednesday.
"Hispanics are Republicans; they just
don't know it yet," said Ken Mehlman, the chairman of
the Republican National Committee, repeating the famous
quote from President Ronald Reagan.
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month,
which begins today, Mehlman met with about 60 Hispanic
business, political and student leaders and urged them
to help make the Hispanic vote even more significant in
upcoming elections.
In the last presidential election, 44
percent of Hispanic voters in the United States
supported President Bush, according to exit polls.
That's 9 percentage points higher than Bush received in
2000.
More notably, 50 percent of Hispanics
who were voting for the first time indicated support for
the Republican president.
Mehlman said that is why he is the first
Republican chairman to meet with groups such as League
of United Latin American Citizens and the National
Council on La Raza.
"People have said the reason George Bush
did so well with the Hispanic vote is because he spoke
Spanish," Mehlman said. "If you've heard him speak
Spanish, you know that's not true ... he spoke common
sense."
Oregon Democrats, meanwhile, criticized
Bush and Republicans, saying their policies have harmed
Hispanics.
"Oregon voters are concerned about the
Iraq war, access to health care for 600,000 uninsured
Oregonians, and why four years after 9-11, the federal
government wasn't better prepared to respond to a
national crisis in the Gulf Coast states," Democratic
Party of Oregon Chairman Jim Edmunson said in a
statement.
"When Ken Mehlman visits ... he'll need
more than rosy rhetoric and empty promises to make up
for the failed leadership that has been the trademark of
President Bush and the Republicans in Congress."
But Mehlman said the Republican Party is
committed to helping Hispanics start up businesses,
increase home ownership, ensure that all children
succeed in school and reform the immigration system.
Increased security along the U.S.
borders, a system for workers to come in and out of the
country and providing businesses with needed labor will
continue to be a commitment from the president, Mehlman
said.
"The majority of folks coming into this
country are trying to feed their families," he said.
"We're open for business, compassionate to families and
closed to terrorists."
In response to several questions from
the audience about when immigration reform will happen,
Mehlman predicted that Congress will address it this
fall.
Mariano Lucero III of Sandy,
chairman of the new Hispanic Oregon Republican Assembly,
said it's the Democrats that have failed Hispanics.
"We've worked in the fields, we've
worked in the factories, no one handed us anything,"
Lucero said. "We're tired of the broken promises that
the Democrats have given us."
Although Oregon's Hispanic population is
still relatively small, Salem businessman George
Puentes said he was pleased to see the high-level
attention by Republicans.
"We're glad he sees the value of being
here," Puentes said.
While in Oregon on Wednesday, Mehlman
also held meetings with party members and Microsoft
employees and participated in a fund-raiser for the
Oregon Republican Party.
grico@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6815
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Republican
National Hispanic Assembly
