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John L. Smith
Turnout and vote of Hispanics possible keys in Senate race
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Updated: Oct. 13, 2010 | 1:04 p.m.
Turn on a television and you'll hear frightening tales of illegal immigrants sneaking across the border to steal our jobs and soak up benefits that should be reserved for citizens.
No reasonable person doubts illegal immigration is an important issue, but it's also a complex one and not something that can be accurately reduced to sound bites and sepia tones. The alarming imagery is being manipulated for all it's worth in Campaign 2010.
In Nevada's race for U.S. Senate, Hispanic voters are being courted and condemned simultaneously. On one hand, their motivated participation could help salvage Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's political career in his tight race against Republican challenger and unofficial Border Patrol guard Sharron Angle. (This makes the dangerous assumption that Hispanic voters aren't also angry about the economy and itching for change.)
On the other side of the fence, Angle has taken the hardest of hard-line approaches. Her commercials call Reid the "illegal alien's best friend," and she has been criticized for falsely claiming he favors giving them Social Security benefits. Although her candidacy has received relatively few endorsements from Nevada Republicans, she has expressed great pride in the support she has received from the immigrant's worst enemy, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arizona passed a law enabling law enforcement to request proof of citizenship from people detained on other legal matters as simple as a traffic ticket. Angle supports the law.
While civil liberties experts are outraged, 57 percent of Nevada residents would approve of such a law, according to a June statewide survey. And 54 percent say they believe illegals are taking jobs. Surely Nevada's high unemployment rate has only exacerbated that belief.
When Reid came out in support of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, it was a clear sign he was focusing on courting Hispanic voters. Team Reid might have lost the edge with independent voters, but its Hispanic strategy holds the potential of motivating a substantial Hispanic voting bloc.
Given that, it was intriguing to see the Washington, D.C.-based group The Hispanic Institute reported registering 10,000 Hispanic voters in Nevada. Potentially, that's more than enough votes to blow open a close election.
THI Chairman and President Gus West knows his way around the state, especially Southern Nevada, where he once worked as a city of Las Vegas management analyst before joining the U.S. Department of Commerce and starting his own government affairs operation. West, a native of Nicaragua, says THI was created in 2005 "as a reaction to what we perceived was the anti-Hispanic sentiment that is going on out there. Our primary work is looking at labor needs, immigrant labor needs, and we try to document economic contributions of Hispanics."
But, he admits, this was no public relations campaign.
"We wanted to really show this time what we could accomplish on the door to door, grass roots, down and dirty," West says of the voter registration drive. "We're not involved in TV and radio. Other people do that stuff. We do the hard part, the non-sexy part. And we've been well received. There's a lot of fear out there in the community, particularly a lot of scared Hispanic Nevadans. For years people have tried to suppress the Hispanic vote."
West notes that Hispanics have been disappointed in President Barack Obama. Democrats can't count on monolithic support.
"I think that Hispanics helped put Obama in office," he says. "Now his administration has arrested more Hispanics than previous administrations. It makes no sense."
Republican Party insiders I've spoken with remain confident voter outrage will overcome any Hispanic surprise by Democrats. Maybe they're right.
But with voter registration ending Tuesday and early voting starting on Saturday, in any language 10,000 newly registered voters is nothing to sneeze at.
John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.
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It's not what Sharron Angle won't be able to do as a freshman Senator,it's what Harry Reid won't be able to do as a Senior one.
Ever since Dingy Harry got power in the Senate jobs have been losted, homes have been losted, and our freedoms have been losted. If Harry is re-elected, then what will be losted next? I am voting for Ms. Angle in hopes of draining the swamp called Washington DC.
ON FRIDAY 15, 2010 A BRITISH CITIZEN AND FORMER (LPR) WILL DEMAND A (PADILLA) HEARING AT 8:45AM IN DISTRICT COURT JUDGE LINDA BELLS COURTROOM THIS WILL BE THE FIRST PADILLA HEARING HELD IN NEVADA COURTS, AND YOU CAN WATCH HOW DAVE ROGER'S OFFICE WILL LIE AT THIS HEARING IN THE MORNING. THIS CASE IS 16 YEARS OLD AND HAS COST THE TAX PAYER THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO DEFEND. IT IS PREDICTED ROGER'S OFFICE WILL AVOID THE FACTS. DAVE ROGER SHOULD NOT BE RE-ELECTED.
Latinos have now seen the truth in taking bribes from the Party of Food Stamps which only keeps them "be-holden" to this Party for more "hand-outs". Lower taxes and jobs are the answer and Republican Party, though having made mistakes in the past will at least get us a job. Now we have this on Harry:
A vote for Prince Harry Reid will make it easy for him to join the ranks of Maxine Waters and Charley Rangel on the steps of the Federal Court House and continue to embarass the Democratic Party and here is why:
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/sen-harry-reid-hit-with-ethics-complaint/
"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican.I want you to argue with them and get in their face,”
Barack Obama Elko, Nevada Sept. 17 2008----A tea partier named Nathan Tabor, who was filming a protest against Rep. Mel Watt's office in Greensboro, North Carolina, subsequently was punched in the face by a man who disagreed with the protest.Tabor blamed President Obama for the punch he received, this is what he said: "TABOR: You know, Neil, here's the interesting thing. I think he took -- you know, Barack Obama, President Barack Obama said a few weeks ago you know, "go to your neighbors and get in their face." Well, you know, that is a very -- you know, if they're going to have to use violence to step on the constitution -- everybody be aware."
The Democrats recruit Illegals because they have lost the votes of middle class Americans so they hope to import a Dependent, minority population from a Narco State (the ones who survive the crossing should be checked for drugs---(as the 72 massacred in Mexico refused to become "mules" drug carriers for the cartels) The hope is to change the Demographics of the USA by becoming Mexico North----not bringing in people who have Skills other than back breaking work which will be financed by the Giant Democratic Welfare System which means to take the money of Working Americans and subsidize the Agriculture industry owned by the Fat Cats.-----and then use the Democratic Identity Politics with the Shill in the White House leading the racist allegations to stir the pot and motivate the minorities to either vote or riot. Why is it that the film of him lecturing his followers in Elko to "get in their faces!" when speaking of the opposition. This is the great "post racial" President all the lefties voted for ???? Since when----he sounds like demagogues we heard during WW II.
"Do we even wonder why they wish to turn the most important senator in the history of Nevada, the Senate Majority Leader (D), into a scapegoat?"----Scapegoat ???---this man, Reid, was to Obama as Sancho Panza was to Don Quixote-----a squire, carrying a madman's lance !!!!
Windpower and Solar comprise 1% of our necessary energy needs; meanwhile Obama cost the Gulf Coast region 40,000 JOBS--(but his concern was never JOBS---only his leftist agenda)----even if we doubled the Windpower and Solar, we would still be 98% short----meanwhile France is 90% Nuclear, Germany is building new nuclear plants, China likewise. What do we do? Head Back to the Stone Age!!!
Thanks Harry----can't wait for the Brown outs to start and the water shortages to get worse---what a leader----a Sycophant to the mad man in Washington.
Nice to know that our nation's destiny depends on the uninformed, illegal population which immigrated here from a Narco State to our South---and They are going to determine our future. This is truly a sad state of affairs.
The day the democrats took over was not January 22nd 2009, it was actually January 3rd 2007: the day the Democrats took over the House of Representatives and the Senate, the start of the 110th Congress. The Democratic Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995. For those who are listening to the liberals propagating the fallacy that everything is "Bush's Fault", think about this: January 3rd, 2007 was the day the Democrats took over the Senate and the Congress. At the time: The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77. The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%. The Unemployment rate was 4.6%. George Bush's Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT MONTHS of JOB CREATION! Remember the day...January 3rd, 2007 was the day that Barney Frank took over the House Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee. The economic meltdown that happened 15 months later was in what part of the economy? BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES! Thank Congress for taking us from 13,000 DOW, 3.5 GDP and 4.6% Unemployment to this CRISIS by dumping 5-6 TRILLION Dollars of toxic loans on the economy from YOUR Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fiasco's! . And who took the THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac? OBAMA. And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie??? OBAMA and the Democratic Congress.
This most 'important' NV Senator, has voted for Obama care, even knowing NV residents (majority) were against it. Look how many other things are thrown in these bills this administration has passed.
I don't vote just on R or D... I didn't really like Bush (R), but to say he was the worst is opinion based. I hated Carter, and how many of the Democrats changed to progressives... Wanting the Govt to dictate everything from more welfare, easier loans under Clinton, etc. Both R's and D's are responsible. It is just time to clean house, and Harry needs to go. He hasn't done much for NV, and has hurt the US. It may be unpredictable to see how Angle does, but our economy will, for certain, get worst under Harry Reid.