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As soon as Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he was running for
governor of California, he became the leading candidate. It's probably
nothing more than name recognition, since he has said very little except a
few generalities about his agenda for fixing California's problems. There
is, however, enough information available to determine that Latinos will,
in all likelihood, not support him.
First of all there is Proposition 187. Schwarzenegger voted
for it. The initiative, which denied benefits to undocumented immigrants,
including their children, was passed by California voters by significant
margins. Latinos, of course, opposed it and still remember it as an
anti-immigrant initiative.
Who was the proposition's chief sponsor? The same person who
is one of Schwarzenegger's three campaign co-chairpersons. You guessed it,
former California governor Pete Wilson.
The proposition is still fresh in Latinos' minds. In one TV
spot, Wilson's voice ended the ad by saying "and they keep
coming" as if Mexicans were invading California.
Wilson was re-elected governor, but Proposition 187 made him
the worst ambassador of the GOP to court Latino voters.
Wilson's influence in Schwarzenegger's campaign goes even
deeper, since his former chief of staff Bob White and several former top
aides will run the Schwarzenegger campaign.
In essence, it looks quite a bit like a Wilson re-rerun, and Latinos will
of course be turned off.
Schwarzenegger can easily say that he is not anti-immigrant. In supporting
proposition 187, he can use Pete Wilson's line that the initiative was
aimed at illegal immigrants. That may be a selling point to white voters.
Unfortunately, the proposition, which the courts ruled unconstitutional,
also denied benefits to the children of undocumented workers.
Schwarzenegger has
successfully led an initiative to provide after-school programs for
children. Does that mean that he believes only "legal" hildren
should benefit? His support of proposition 187 would seem to indicate so.
Some have suggested that Proposition 187 was racist and have
tried to paint its supporters as such. Yet, whatever the case,Latinos
clearly interpreted it as negative, not just for their ethnic group, but
for any undocumented immigrant regardless of the country of origin.
Suspicions raised by Schwarzenegger's support for a highly
questionable initiative are strengthened by his participation in US
English, a group dedicated to promote English-only legislation.
Schwarzenegger's name appears in the group's advisory board alongside of a
number of right-wingers including Norman Podhoretz, Midge
Decter, Charlton Heston, David Horowitz, etc.
Walter Cronkite was also on the same board but resigned in
1998 when the then group's chairman John Tanton wrote repugnant statements
against Hispanics and Catholics.
Conservative Linda Chavez, who served as civil rights
administrator under President Ronald Reagan, eventually became chair of US
English, but she also resigned because of the group's anti-immigrant and
anti-Hispanic leanings.
US English philosophy is detrimental to immigrants and
particularly Spanish speakers. The group is against bilingual education
and believes that the government should not provide services in other
languages to immigrants.
Tanton is no longer involved with US English but the group's
right-wing agenda still permeates its activities. James Lubinskas, its
Director of Communications, has been a contributing editor to American
Renaissance magazine, which promotes a racist, neo-Confederate philosophy.
Schwarzenegger is probably not very involved in US English,
but the fact that he is lending them his very famous name suggests that he
supports their philosophy and agenda. Unlike Walter Cronkite,
Schwarzenegger has not resigned from US English.
Schwarzenegger has made some general statements about wanting
to be everybody's governor and that of course would include Latinos who
make up 32% of California's total population. That's a significant number.
It's no surprise therefore that Schwarzenegger has nominated
Abel Maldonado and Bonnie Garcia, two Latino members of the California
Assembly, as co-chairs of his campaign.
Both, however, are Republicans and Latinos, who typically vote
for Democrats by significant margins, will view them as a weak attempt to
get their votes.
Although Latinos may vote to recall Gray Davis, they will not
be likely to select Schwarzenegger. Most Latinos will pick one of their
own"”Cruz Bustamante"” who, as lieutenant governor, is not just the
legitimate heir if Davis is recalled, but also someone who knows about
Latino issues like the back of his hand.
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