I was a long life registered Latino Republican, but switched to "no party preference" in the State of Arizona. Numerous reasons why I did that, but one of the reasons why I did so was due to the harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Arizona Republican party. I heard with my own ears how Joe Arpaio made fun of the mysterious Mexican immigrant deaths in his prisons and Republicans applaud the jokes. I heard and debated with State Senator Russell Pearce when he welcomed "Operation Wetback" and thought it was a great thing. Make no mistake, I am also not happy with the Department of Homeland Security deporting almost one million Latin immigrants in the past 2.5 years. We need LEGAL immigration reform RIGHT NOW.
The need and rise of the Latino/Hispanic Independent Voter in 2012
By DeeDee Garcia Blase
This will be my last entry as “Arizona Hispanic Republicans” for the Tucson Citizen. I will now be writing under the HISPANIC POLITICO.
SOMOS REPUBLICANS.
As many of you might already know, I have stepped down as President of SOMOS REPUBLICANS – the largest Hispanic Republican group in the nation. It became the biggest because we grew out of crisis and we were the only ones in the nation who advocated for Immigrant and Latino Rights. SOMOS became nationally known when we rebuked Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and State Senator Russell Pearce for demonizing immigrants and Latinos. SOMOS remains in good hands as I have ensured that the organization will not be hijacked by Tea Party extremists and anti-Immigrant supporters.
It’s time for me to divorce the Republican Party, and go an Independent and new direction.
As many of you might already know, I am an Independent registered voter now. I will vote in the Republican primaries for the sole purpose of weeding out the worst Republicans. As an Independent voter who will vote in Republican primaries….I get to vote for the most immigrant friendly GOPers as feasibly possible. Before you laugh at that, realize what effect we could have as a bunch of Latino Independents and how we could actually bring about some upsets for restrictionists and isolationists in both parties.
THE NATIONAL TEQUILA PARTY MOVEMENT.
I am ready to unleash my passions within the National Tequila Party Movement. That’s where the real power is at because I get to work with the broader political spectrum and people across the nation during a time in which Latino Republican voter strength continues to dwindle. Little do people know how the Tequila Party (where most members and leaders are of Mexican descent) will turn into a type of an American Party because we are the compassionate ones who remember that immigrants made this nation great. We are the ones who still believe that the United States is that Shining City on a Hill and we still believe we are a beacon to the whole world. The Tequila Party will prove that Latinos are just as patriotic as any other ethnic class because we know we have shed our blood, too, in American wars. It is not the fault of Hispanics for leaving the GOP. Latino Republicans are dwindling because of Republican extremists like Tom Tancredo, J.D. Hayworth, Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer, Pete Wilson, Joe Arpaio, Marco Rubio (Latino Republican who is anti-immigrant), Lamar Smith, Steve King, Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Sharron Angle, Virgil Peck, and so one.
THE POWER IS WITH THE PEOPLE.
I have known it all along: The key to 2012 is to motivate Latinos to vote. In fact, I believe 2012 will be the year of the Hispanics when we vote in droves because we are fed up. They should not feel disgruntled about the status quote, but instead be glad with the rising population numbers in our class as we look ahead and take matters into our own hands. We have the power to change the course of this country. We want to revive the American Revolution and we are not afraid of immigrants because we know immigrants made this country a great one. We are in control of our destinies to a point. We should continue to change what is in our power to change, and that means we need to vote more assertively. If Latinos don’t vote, it is our own fault for the situation that we are in. If only Latinos could play the political game the way we play soccer and how passionate and strategic we are about futbol.
WHY INDEPENDENT?
Being an Independent voter puts us in a “free agent” type of status. Both parties have to work harder to woo us and this is a good position for us to be in, particularly when the Party we might have ‘believed in’ took advantage of our votes. As more of us become registered Independent voters, both parties will tread carefully on issues that are near and dear to our hearts like the broken immigration system and our wanting to fix it. It doesn’t stop at immigration, we look ahead at securing our interests via redistricting issues, and ensuring fairness to that regard.
More importantly, an Independent voter recognizes how the far right and the far left are truly ruining this country. There needs to be more Independent voters to moderate policy discussion so that we can bring this nation back on the right course. The right course is being able to work across the aisle. Federal lawmakers need to take care of American business. We need to be united on the tough issues and not be for government shut downs and etc.
MALCOM X.
We ought to learn a small lesson from Malcolm X specifically regarding his views during Civil Rights era for African-Americans to become Independent Voters. But, substitute Civil Rights era with the Immigrant / Latino Rights era in today’s climate.
Little did I know how accurate X was on pushing for the Independent voter to influence POLICY ISSUES. Latinos should should learn from this specifically as it relates to the immigration issue and fixing what we all know is broken.
In order for Latinos to push for IMMIGRATION FIXES, we must get more involved. As more of us register as Independents. This will force R’s and D’s in a position to work harder for our votes and they will not be able to predict our voting behavior. This is good for them not to predict and take advantage of us. Both sides must work on fixing the broken immigration voters.
CREDIT: Youtube
CAPTION: The need and rise of the Latino/Hispanic Independent Voter in 2012
We blame the nativist and extremist Tea Party Republicans like Russell Pearce, Virgil Peck, Daryl Metcalfe, Tom Tancredo for adding fuel to the fire that has resulted to increased hate crimes against Latinos.
We will be addressing the increase of hate crimes against our fellow Latino brethren. No thanks to the likes of Russell Pearce, Herman Cain, Virgil Peck and so many others advocating hate and violence against Latinos and immigrants. So much for the “pro life” party. There will be hell to pay for this at the voting booths.
Please click on the below link to see a video of the kid who was attacked. He is our brother.
Teen attacked walking home; family thinks he was targeted because of his ethnicity
Tonight Pearce is joining side-by-side with his “John Tanton” buddies at a ball game.
Pearce is associating himself with founder of Michigan Planned Parenthood and several John Tanton networks like the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI). Russell Pearce is getting desperate. Not only is he is lying about the immigration position of the Latter Day Saints Church (LDS), he is now bringing all of the nativists and extremists into the fold here in Arizona.
Let me ask my audience a question with regard to these nativists and extremists like Tom Tancredo and Russell Pearce….why are we seeing “Republicans” work in concert with John Tanton who founded Michigan’s Planned Parenthood and Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)? In fact, John Tanton and his wife spend a significant amount of money setting up abortion clinics in third world countries because they are deathly afraid of this world becoming over populated.
Why on God’s green earth would so called Republicans have anything to do with John Tanton and his network?
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is an anti-immigration ‘movement,’ that began by one man, John Tanton. Tanton was the organizer and President of the Northern Michigan Planned Parenthood Association between 1965-1971, and in 1975 he wrote The Case for Passive Eugenics where his letters and memos are a public collection at the Bentley Historical Library. (1) Tanton has clear connections to Pioneer Fund and Numbers USA where Pioneer Fund’s eugenic ideas (selective breeding of humans) supported a variety of institutions that legitimize race “science”, including the journal Mankind Quarterly, which today is published by long-time eugenicist, anti-Semite and Pioneer grant recipient Roger Pearson. (2) According to the Wall Street Journal, Jason Riley states that by Dr. Tanton’s own reckoning, FAIR has received more than $1.5 million from the Pioneer Fund, a white-supremacist outfit devoted to racial purity through eugenics. Board members of FAIR actively promote the sterilization of Third World women for the purposes of reducing U.S. immigration prospects. And if anything disturbs the good doctor more than those Latin American hordes crossing the Rio Grande, it’s the likelihood that most of them are Catholic, or so he once told a Reuters reporter. (3) As the founder and publisher of Social Contract Press, Tanton has published books that have helped shaped a nationalist ideology focused on the threat of immigrants to the white…while ignoring research that points to the positive contributions of immigrants. (4)
Story below about tonight’s game. There will be about 500 people there attending the game, and it is unfortunate that Pearce continues to bring in clowns from outside the State of Arizona to support his bigotry.
Tancredo to Attend Rally in Support of Russell Pearce Tonight
Posted on Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 10:20 am. Written by Imagine 2050 Editors
Tom Tancredo is amongst the nativist speakers attending the “Support Russell Pearce Rally” tonight in Mesa, AZ. Pearce faces a recall election in November. Tancredo and Pearce are both intricate members of the John Tanton Network. Tancredo founded the House Immigration Reform Caucus (IRC) which works closely with other anti-immigrant groups from within the Network to pass anti-immigrant laws at the national level. Pearce is one of the founding members of State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI) a coalition of legislators….
Ted Reinstein is a Boston columnist who quoted us as saying the Tea Party’s Over.
He is right.
It is over.
The Tea Party movement nut-jobbers like Michele Bachmann, DeMint, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Debbie Riddle, Dan Patrick, Ted Poe, Leo Berman, Tom Tancredo, Russell Pearce, JD Hayworth, and all the other angry politicians who are irrational are losing Tea Party momentum.
The Tea Party’s Over
Uncompromising Right To The End
(SNIP)
Why the Republican flight from reasonableness to recklessness then?
Two words: Tea Party.
It is primarily the newest House members, many of whom were Tea Party-backed, who have been most rigid and unyielding in demanding steep and drastic budget cuts. And they have made it very difficult for Republican House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to find compromise in, or otherwise moderate their mad dog approach to politics.While a government shutdown was narrowly averted last week when the White House and Boehner agreed on some $39 billion in cuts, Tea Party members had wanted $60 to $100 billion in cuts — numbers that would have devastated daily life for millions of Americans.
The Tea Party response? Three words, as succinctly summed up by U.S. Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), a Tea Party favorite: Shut ‘er down!
Some were troubled by that scorched earth attitude.
“Tea partiers seem to have an ‘all or nothing’ characteristic about them and we know this because they were being irrational in wanting to see the entire government shutdown … it is simply unreasonable to see the entire government shutdown instead of promoting rational solutions.”
The words of Michael Moore or Rachel Maddow?
No, the words of DeeDee Garcia Blase, writing in the Tucson Citizen. Blase is Founder and President of Somos Republicans, the nation’s largest Latino Republican organization.
As you may already know, SOMOS REPUBLICANS is based out of Arizona. We believe Arizona is ground zero with regard to immigration.
A few weeks ago, my Texas leader complained that he was not getting any response from the Texas Republican Party, so naturally, I decided to blog about it here and it prompted one of their outreach directors to call us because apparently the Texas GOP Chair (Steve Munisteri) receives google alerts with regard to his name. You can read our initial concern here.
Today, we followed up via email with the Texas GOP because our Texas Director, Lauro Garza wanted to work on a voter initiative, and we know that Hispanics need to be more dependable voters, especially during the Primary Election season. We wrote the Texas GOP to find out if they would be willing to incentivize our grassroots organizers to register new Latino Republican voters. The Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri basically told us he didn’t need help registering new Latino voters. They noted SOMOS REPUBLICANS have attacked legislators who attack American baby rights via the 14th amendment, immigrants, and our youth. In fact, we are notorious for attacking Representative Peck of Kansas for advocating the shooting of illegal immigrants.
In the below exchange of emails, you will see me draw a parallel behind what our organization is doing and what Elizabeth Rickey had to do with regard to neo-Nazi supporter, David Duke. Except we have a much tougher job as a national organization because we are fighting bigotry on a national scale and it appears Steve Ministeri wants us to turn a blind eye to that and not say anything as to avoid snags with their bylaws. Since when did we evolve to putting Party before People?
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:49:27 -0500 [07:49PM CDT]
From: DeeDee
To: Steve Munisteri
Subject: RE: Somos Republicans seeks to establish relations with RPT
Dear Steve,
Thank you for your quick response. You have answered our questions and it prevents us from writing you a letter next week. It is unfortunate that “attacking Republicans” after they attack American baby rights, immigrants and our youth via the DREAM Act is preventing a partnership. As you might already know, and according to the PEW, the large majority of Latinos are against harsh SB 1070 type of laws.
Please recall to your remembrance when Elizabeth Rickey, a GOP activist, denounced David Duke in Louisiana. She fought hard against bigotry and racism when David Duke was partnering with neo-Nazi and Klansmen. She looked for GOP colleagues on the Republicans State Central Committee to censure and disavow him to no avail — in fact some actually embraced him. We all know Rickey’s story when several friends left her, but she persisted and was ultimately successful.
I see a similar parallel sweeping the nation that began with Russell Pearce, who has ties to a known neo-Nazi, J.T. Ready. Russell Pearce baptized J.T. Ready in his church. The architect and organizations behind these laws embrace zero population ideas, Planned Parenthood, and socialism. I will continue to sound the alarm to my Party leaders because it is my responsibility to “tell the King he is naked”, and because it is the right thing to do to expose bigotry. I am persistent with this crusade because I believe the arc of justice bends on our side.
When the Party is wrong, I will side with the majority of the people, however, when the Party corrects itself I will bring the people back.
The ONLY way for the Republican Party to build trust with the majority of the Latino community is to denounce unconstitutional and anti-immigrant laws that have damaged our party. Several of your Latino auxiliaries are on record for embracing these horrendous laws and the Texas Republican legislators that introduce them. With this track record, the Republican Party is set to be on a course that will more than likely dwindle Hispanic Republican support down to 12-15%. Our goal is to increase that, and we cannot increase our Hispanic Republican voters by turning a blind eye to those who side legislators like David Duke, Tom Tancredo, J.D. Hayworth, Russell Pearce and Debbie Riddle.
Soon we will identify the groups you have affiliations with and who have been on the record for embracing unconstitutional and anti-immigrant laws such as SB 1070. We will remind everyone that the sponsor of SB 1070 is on the record for stating he “welcomed Operation Wetback.” We will expose those groups on our websites and social networks soon, but we wanted to make sure we made an attempt to reach out to you first.
Lastly, SOMOS REPUBLICANS was instrumental in promoting several Latino Republicans Candidates not only in Texas, but all over the United States. We cannot support any candidate who wishes to demonize American born babies and the immigrant community. And we most certainly cannot side with any legislator who supports the views of Russell Pearce who has ties with known neo-Nazis. Since you are actively working with “numerous” Latino groups, then there is no need for us to register new Latino Republican voters in Texas. Your confidence calms my worry. Your Latino auxiliaries who are on the record for embracing SB 1070 type of laws should be sufficient for the State of Texas and the message is clear that you need no more help.
Thanks.
Regards,
DeeDee Garcia Blase
President/Founder
Quoting Steve Munisteri <smunisteri@texasgop.org>:
FYI-The bylaws of the RPT prohibit the allocation of resources or Staff which indirectly or directly can influence intraparty contests. Therefore we will NOT be providing assistance to groups with a history of attacking Republican elected officials. The RPT works
through our official auxiliary Hispanic Republican outreach groups who went through a screening process to become to affiliated with the RPT. I am happy to report that we are actively already working with numerous effective, well established Latino groups. In fact, I just attended a conference with these groups yesterday. This outreach is one reason the RPT just elected 6 new Latino state Reps and 2 new Latino Congressman. I trust this answers the inquiry-Steve
From: DeeDee
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 4:15 PM
To: Chris Elam
Subject: RE: Somos Republicans seeks to establish relations with RPT
Chris,
Please give us Steve’s email, too. We will send a hard copy via snail mail, too.
We don’t have a “hit list” as you are calling it. We react fast when GOP legislators refer to precious gifts from God as “anchor babies”. It is demeaning and we are staunch pro lifers here. Furthermore, we do not believe in anti-immigrant laws that are contrary to Capitalism and Free Market Thinking.
Republicans who hold restrictionist, isolationist, and protectionist views do not belong in the party that claims to embrace Capitalism. We are restoring our damaged image, and we do it by disassociating ourselves from Dixiecrat individuals.
We will continue to produce a Hispanic friendly voting guide that was published in several, several Spanish media outlets during the 2010 midterm elections. The Hispanic friendly guide consists of people who do not demonize immigrants. Our Hispanic friendly guide is only a guide on immigration related issues….it is not a full blown endorsement. Our PAC endorses non-Democratic candidates.
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:48:12 -0500 [03/23/2011 02:48PM CDT]
From: DeeDee
To: Lauro Garza, Chris Elam
Subject: Re: Somos Republicans seeks to establish relations with RPT
Mr. Elam,
Allow this to be a follow up to our verbal conversation we had a couple of weeks ago.
As discussed, we are interested in a bounty so that we can incentivize our grassroots organizers to register new Latino Republican voters over Independents.
We have a good rapport with the community because of our vocal opposition of SB 1070. Many of your Latino affiliations cannot say that about themselves….and we put people before party which is an important key element to gain back Latino trust and interest. As you already know, W. Bush received approximately 44% of Latino vote, and we have the numbers dwindle to 31% who voted for McCain. Several GOPers who have introduced anti-immigrant laws have hurt us tremendously with regard to the “big tent”. We have developed trust and are coalition building with Latino leaders solely because of our opposition to SB 1070, and in fact we hear things like “I hate the racist Republican Party, but we love SOMOS REPUBLICANS.” We believe they respect us because we don’t agree with anti-immigrant/enforcement only laws.
Please let us know if you are interested in working with us. We do not want to be affiliated, but we do want to know if you will pay us a bounty for registering new Republican voters for the upcoming 2012 elections. If you pay us for registering new Republican voters, it will give us an incentive to try to convince Latinos to register as Republican.
If you get a moment, please review our 12 steps to securing our borders and legal immigration. Lionel Sosa (Hispanic Advisor to Reagan, Bush I and II) helped us polish it.
The Arizona Republican Party is going to have to do better than Gabriela Saucedo Mercer in order to replace Congressman Raul Grijalva. If you want to win Latino hearts and mind, it starts with educating yourselves by understanding Hispanic Culture and Demographics. For starters, let’s find out what the the Pew Hispanic Center has to say about Latino Demography and what the data suggests with regard to our behavior. It is absolutely imperative for the Republican Party to know that only 12% of Hispanics say local police should take an active role in identifying undocumented immigrants. Over 80% of the Hispanic population is against SB 1070 type of laws.
If you hunt and look really hard for Latino Republican tokens who know what you want to hear…then you will find a very small percent of Hispanics that will turn into “yes-men” for you. (Pssst. But let me clue you in on something: If those Hispanic Republicans know you are in support of SB 1070 type of laws, then of course they will tell you what you want to hear), but, this does not change the overall pulse of how Latinos really feel.
Approximately 44% of Hispanics voted for George W. Bush in 2004. As of 2008, we have dwindled down to 31% who voted for McCain, and I believe much of that had to do with Obama sinking millions and millions into Hispanic media coupled with the increasing anti-immigrant sentiment that began with Sensenbrenner’s Bill – H.R. 4437.
Now, let’s look at the data and the pace that state legislators like Virgil Peck (advocated shooting ‘illegals like pigs’), and Russell Pearce (sponsor of SB 1070) are putting us on. Do you really believe at this pace the Republican Party will win the Presidential elections of 2012? Not if Latinos can help it. The new RNC leadership must denounce the likes of Virgil Peck to prove to the increasing number of Hispanic voters that all Republicans are not a bunch of bigots who want to empty a clip on “illegals”.
SOMOS REPUBLICANS are working in the overall best interest of the Republican Party, but we don’t do it by being “yes men”. We put people before party, and we do it by practicing good ol’ politics like Ronald Reagan used to practice. Back then, politicians worked with each other across the aisle for what was in the best interest of the United States. These days too many people will call you a “RINO” which means “Republican In Name Only” if you are not a far right winger; Or, they will call you a “DINO” which means “Democrat In Name Only”. The far leftists and right wingers are ruining our country. We want reason and decency instead of being attacked for not being extreme enough for the party hacks.
We are hell bent on restoring our soul to the Party of Abe Lincoln. If you want Latino Republican “tokens”, then they are going to tell you what you want to hear, but if you are smart, you will pay attention to the Pew Research data below. Those Latino Republican tokens want the immediate satisfaction of your acceptance, however, what you should be watching for is what the entire Hispanic population is saying with regard to enforcement-only policies.
If you want to dwindle Hispanic Republican support down to 12%, then embrace politicians like Russell Pearce, Tom Tancredo, J.D. Hayworth, Virgil Peck, Steve King and all the other extremists. If you want to see MORE Hispanic Republican voters, then you must not embrace SB 1070 type of laws. It’s that simple.
Eight-in-ten Hispanics say local police should not be involved in identifying undocumented or illegal immigrants.
According to the Pew Hispanic Center’s 2008 National Survey of Latinos, 81% of Hispanics said enforcement of immigration laws should be left mainly to the federal authorities while just 12% said local police should take an active role. Among the general public, opinion is split — in 2007, half (49%) of non-Hispanics said enforcement should be left mainly to federal authorities, while 45% said local police should take an active role.
What will it take for the birther movement to be convinced that President Obama was born in the United States? If the Supreme Court feels there is enough and sufficient evidence that Obama was born here, then what makes the birther folks believe contrary? An email chain they were part of? Republicans who are part of this birther movement are a disgrace to the party, and the AZ GOP leadership contributes to this nonsense.
Supreme Court Rejects Obama Birth Case Appeal
Updated: Monday, 07 Mar 2011, 4:22 PM EST
Published : Monday, 07 Mar 2011, 11:06 AM EST
MYFOXNY.COM – The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a so-called “birther” advocate to examine whether President Barack Obama was actually born in the United States, according to CNN.
By questioning whether Obama was born in the country, birthers continue to question whether he meets the constitutional standard of eligibility for the presidency. Several other birther petitions have been rejected by the courts.
Gregory Hollister filed the petition to call on Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to withdraw from considering the constitutional claims, contending a conflict of interest by the president’s two high court appointees.
Folks who are part of the birther movement remind me of the folks from that old movie Deliverance who are ignorant and have too much time on their hands with nothing better to do. Perhaps the birther movement would be better off making music with their banjos.
I am ready to unleash my passions within the National Tequila Party Movement. That’s where the real power is at because I get to work with the broader political spectrum and people across the nation during a time in which Latino Republican voter strength continues to dwindle. Little do people know how the Tequila Party (where most members and leaders are of Mexican descent) will turn into a type of an American Party because we are the compassionate ones who remember that immigrants made this nation great. We are the ones who still believe that the United States is that Shining City on a Hill and we still believe we are a beacon to the whole world. The Tequila Party will prove that Latinos are just as patriotic as any other ethnic class because we know we have shed our blood, too, in American wars. It is not the fault of Hispanics for leaving the GOP. Latino Republicans are dwindling because of Republican extremists like Tom Tancredo, J.D. Hayworth, Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer, Pete Wilson, Joe Arpaio, Marco Rubio (Latino Republican who is anti-immigrant), Lamar Smith, Steve King, Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Sharron Angle, Virgil Peck, and so one.
in control of our destinies to a point. We should continue to change what is in our power to change, and that means we need to vote more assertively. If Latinos don’t vote, it is our own fault for the situation that we are in. If only Latinos could play the political game the way we play soccer and how passionate and strategic we are about futbol.
