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bjbjLULU GWEN IFILL: Along the campaign trail, Democrats and Republicans take note of the
census numbers and plot a new path to victory. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Soy Barack Obama y
apruebo este mensaje. GWEN IFILL: It's not a coincidence that President Obama has begun
speaking Spanish. As the general election campaign takes shape, Democrats and Republican
Mitt Romney are competing for the support of the nation's fastest growing demographic
group, Latino voters. The NewsHour's Vote 2012 Map Center found, in 2008, Hispanics
represented large percentages of voters across the Southwest and Florida. But the map is
much bigger than that. Both campaigns are competing heatedly in at least three critical
swing states: Nevada, Colorado, and Florida. Latinos overall made up 16 percent of the
population in 2008, but 9 percent of the voters. And they chose Mr. Obama over John McCain
by more than 2-1. Seeking to nail down that edge, the Obama campaign launched a series
of new Spanish-language ads today. But the GOP is also in the hunt. The Republican National
Committee appointed Hispanic outreach directors in all those states this week, as well as
in Virginia, New Mexico, and North Carolina. GWEN IFILL: Romney launched his appeal in
Florida during January's Republican primary. This ad was voiced by Romney's son Craig.
MITT ROMNEY (R): Soy Mitt Romney y apruebo este mensaje. Muchas gracias. GWEN IFILL:
But the presumptive Republican nominee has a significant gap to close. A Pew Research
Center poll released this week showed the president leading Romney 67 percent to 27
percent among Hispanics. Until now, much of the debate has centered on immigration issues,
but both sides are focusing on the economy and on education, with the Obama campaign
highlighting support for Pell Grants that helped nearly two million Hispanic students
attend college, and Romney expressing mild support for Sen. Marco Rubio's version of
the DREAM Act, which would allow children of undocumented immigrants to remain in the
U.S. legally. During the primary campaign, Romney pledged to veto another version of
the bill that granted citizenship. For more now on the intense competition for Hispanic
voters from coast to coast, we are joined by representatives from both major parties,
Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, former chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,
and Bettina Inclan, director of Hispanic outreach for the Republican National Committee. Senator,
start by telling us how critical the Latino vote is this year. SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ, D-N.J.:
Well, I think as it was four years ago, the Latino vote is critical in some of the key
states that will be battleground states that you previewed, some of them, but also in states
that people may not think of as battleground states in terms of Latinos, but Virginia,
North Carolina. This is an all-out effort by the Obama campaign to reconnect with Latino
voters, to remind them what's important in this election, what's at stake for them, to
talk about an administration that has worked hard, from making health care affordable for
nine million Latinos who didn't have health care, to looking at changing the economic
realities of Latinos in the country, over $800 million in the president's Small Business
Jobs Act that went to Hispanic-owned businesses, to changing the realities of where we were
in the disaster -- economic disaster we were left in 2008, and having a Hispanic unemployment
drop dramatically. Still more work to do, but moving in the right direction. And so
it's going to be a critical vote in this election and one that the president enjoys an advantage,
but is not taking for granted by any stretch of the imagination. GWEN IFILL: Ms. Inclan,
obviously, Republicans aren't taking it for granted either. How important is it? And what
are the issues which you hope will drive Latino voters to switch allegiances this time around?
BETTINA INCLAN, Republican National Committee: Yes, the Latino vote, the Hispanic vote, is
very important. And Sen. Menendez talks about how -- especially to make key constituencies
in major swing vote -- in swing states. We have hired six state directors, in Florida,
North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. And we will be having a national
outreach program to connect with even more voters across the country. The number-one
issue is going to be the economy. And we -- he mentioned a little bit the unemployment for
the Hispanic community is unacceptable. It's two points higher than the national average.
There's more Hispanic children living in poverty than ever before. And these economic issues
are really personal and really emotional for Hispanic families across the country who just
want to achieve the American dream, but under this administration, it's become a lot harder.
GWEN IFILL: Personal and emotional enough that voters could switch allegiance this year?
BETTINA INCLAN: It's the number-one issue. Poll after poll, the economy and jobs, like
every other American, it's the number one issue for -- how more personal can it be if
you can't figure out how to feed your family? GWEN IFILL: Sen. Menendez, today, on a conference
call where you talked about this new outreach, you said the Republicans were guilty of selling
snake oil to Hispanic Americans. What did you mean by that? SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ: Well,
Gwen, look, look at the Republican presidential debates, and all you have to do is listen
to the words of Governor Romney, Governor Romney, who opposes the DREAM Act, an opportunity
for young people who were brought to this country through no choice of their own to
realize their dream of America, the only country they know, the only country they pledge allegiance
to each and every day of their lives, a governor who talks about self-deportation. Gov. Romney's
history in taking companies, breaking them apart, large numbers of people unemployed
as a result, bringing them into bankruptcy, that's not going to get Latinos employed.
The reality is, is that Latinos know who stands on their side. That's why the Univision/ABC
poll done earlier, a couple months ago, with a well-respected Hispanic polling firm showed
that, in fact, Latinos know who created this crisis, George Bush and Republicans. They
understand very clearly what health care means to them. Sixty percent believe the government
should ultimately guarantee health care; 57 percent of them do not want to see the president's
Affordable Care Act repealed. Well, when Governor Romney talks about repealing Obamacare, it
goes very -- right in the face of this community. GWEN IFILL: Let me -- let me allow Ms. Inclan's
response to that. BETTINA INCLAN: Well. . . GWEN IFILL: There was a lot there. (LAUGHTER) BETTINA
INCLAN: There was a lot. And the reality is, when we look at this election, it's really
early on. A lot can happen. But when you talk about the differences between this president
and the Republicans, it's stark. And we're going to -- what we have seen is also so many
Hispanics are disappointed with this administration, not only because of the economy, but for -- this
president didn't keep promises, his promises. He promised that he would pass immigration
reform within his first year. He didn't make that a priority, even though he had filibuster-proof
in the Senate and in the Congress, had complete control of Congress, never even proposed reform.
And people are disappointed. A lot of Hispanics have left their countries to aspire to the
American dream here, hoping that we'd have -- with so much hope, and then you have a
candidate who keeps on making promises to the Hispanic community and doesn't accomplish.
. . GWEN IFILL: Mitt Romney said in a -- he was overheard saying at a fund-raiser this
week that if the Republicans cannot win the Hispanic vote this time around, "It spells
doom for us," he said. Do you agree with that, and what do you think that was about? BETTINA
INCLAN: I think that Mitt Romney and all the Republicans and we at the Republican National
Committee believe and comprehend and completely internalize that the Hispanic vote is really
important. These Hispanics are an integral part of this society in America. And it's
with their support -- and they're growing each and everyday. I myself am Hispanic. And
we know how important it is to get them engaged in the electoral process. There's a lot of
Hispanics, Republicans, Democrat, independent, who are just not engaged. And what we're trying
to do here at the Republican Party is get more of them to talk about the issues, get
them more involved, and increase Hispanic voter turnout, and increase it for the Republican
Party. GWEN IFILL: Senator, we do run the danger of talking about Hispanics as a monolithic
voting bloc. Are there different issues that drive different segments of the population?
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ: Well, of course the community is not monolithic, but there are
certain overarching issues that I think are cross-cutting throughout the entire Hispanic
community. And, certainly, the community understands who got them into the economic predicament
that we are getting them out of, from a high watermark of 13 percent unemployment down
to 10 percent. We have got to do better. But they don't want to go back to the policies
that created the economic crisis that put them in that rate of unemployment. GWEN IFILL:
How about. . . SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ: They don't want to go back to policies -- I know
that my colleague here on this program said that the president didn't follow promises.
The reality is, is that if we didn't have a near depression, immigration reform would
have been accomplished in the first two years. And if Republicans didn't insist on a filibuster-proof
vote, 60 votes in the United States Senate, we would have the DREAM Act passed, which
passed with a majority of votes, all Democratic votes, and we would have comprehensive reform
because we'd only need to get 51 votes. So all they have to do is not on insist on a
filibuster amount and we could make progress on those issues. It's Republicans each and
every time that have been the bar to both immigration reform and who created the economic
crisis for, which Latinos disproportionately suffered. GWEN IFILL: Senator, both you and
Bettina Inclan here, both say the economy is the number-one issue for Latinos, as well
as for every other group in this country. And yet we keep returning to this argument
about immigration reform. Is it possible to have this -- make this pitch for these voters,
for this voting bloc, and ever get past that argument? BETTINA INCLAN: Of course. Immigration
is an important issue, but we see the economy and jobs as incredibly important. This president
has to be held accountable for what he has done. He's been in office for three years
promising that he would change the economy, do lots of great things, that even knowing
what he was inheriting, as he likes to say, he was going to turn things around. We have
given him a try. He's failed. He's failed on his promises. And we are going -- again,
economy and jobs are the number-one issue, and that's what's going to get people out
to vote. And that's what's people -- we have talked about it. It's very emotional. When
you can't figure out how you are going to pay your bills, that's an emotional issue.
GWEN IFILL: Sen. Robert Menendez, and Bettina Inclan from the Republican National Committee,
thank you both very much. SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ: Thank you. urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags
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State GWEN IFILL: Along the campaign trail, Democrats and Republicans take note of the
census numbers and plot a new path to victory Normal Microsoft Office Word GWEN IFILL: Along
the campaign trail, Democrats and Republicans take note of the census numbers and plot a
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