Ethnic politics - welcome to the Democrats real dilemma.
The modern Democratic coalition has numerous fracture points. One of the politely unmentioned one is between Hispanics and blacks. As long as Hispanics were a regional thing [the border, Chicago, greater NYC] it was possible to gloss over this. Even the endless fights over patronage and office in NYC could get drowned out in the 'more of the same' feeling towards intrasparty strife in NYC. As the Hispanic population has gone national there is no longer anywhere to hide. This is in many ways a replay of the old Democratic strife between the entrenched Irish urban machines and the newer ethnics 100 years ago. The Irish essentially became the urban Democratic Party in much of the US. They were the party officials, office holders and municipal employees. They had a justifiable rage against the way the Anglo Protestant establishment had treated them. The problem came with the new wave of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. The Slavs, Jews and Italians weren't been held down by the Protestant establishment. They were being held down by the Irish. This led to a nasty choice. The new groups wanted their share of the goodies - the Irish still felt they were entitled to catchup and payback. Until the Depression drove the new groups to FDR this gave the Republicans a chance to get votes that on a socioeconomic basis they hadn't a prayer of reaching. In this 21st century substitute black for Irish and Hispanic [largely Mexican] for the Slavs, Jews and Italians. The Democratic white establishment is between a rock and a hard place on this one. How do they hold the Hispanics while not alienating the blacks and at the same time have the party look white enough to contest the majority votes. To turn the nation into the politics of Deep Dixie [80-90% of the electorate votes their skin color whatever the excuses] is a suicide pact for the Democrats. The Democratic road to power [see Clinton] is to get the non-whites to vote their skin color, the gays to vote their gender, the issue activist progressives to vote ideology and then get just enough whites to vote either their cultural preference [pro-choice, gun control, mild green, anti-theocrat...] or their wallets [the union vote]. This means getting the non-white block vote without being seen to be the non-white party. The black v Hispanic fight makes this harder and harder.
DNC aide decries Hispanic 'disconnect'
By Steve Miller
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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.
Some caucus members insist the plan is still being put together, although they declined to offer details.
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.
"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."
"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.
"This is a situation that will be and needs to be monitored," said Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez, the Texas Democrat who leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
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.
Some caucus members said there is no disconnect with Hispanics and defended Mr. McAuliffe.
Others said there were problems that would be worked out soon.
"There has actually been an improvement on increasing members in the DNC," said Art Torres, who also is chairman of the California Democratic Party. "But it is not reasonable to think that everybody is going to be satisfied at the same time. Terry has done a good job of increasing diversity on the DNC board."
The recent developments have prompted DNC members from the Hispanic as well as the black caucuses to request a meeting with Mr. McAuliffe.
"We all understand the new finance-reform laws require some changes to be made," said Ramona E. Martinez, a Denver city council member who is vice chairman of the Hispanic caucus. "But those changes are being made so internally that we don't find out until after they are made."
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.
Some left voluntarily for other jobs, while others were let go.
"For the party to be effective with the Latino constituency, it needs to put its money where its mouth is," said Maria Cardona, a former DNC communications director who left in March to take a job with the New Democrat Network.
The DNC has reported that 10 percent of its employees are Hispanic and 30 percent are black.
Several sources, including some staffers, yesterday denied the figures, saying there are four Hispanics among the 100 DNC employees.
posted by scott 11:10 AM