A friend forwarded me a story today written by  David Nakamura of the Washington Post. The story is about advocates fearing gun control will divert Obama from immigration reform.

I believe gun control can take political capital away from fixing the broken immigration system, too, if Mexican-Americans do not have a strong grassroots political movement, and if Mexican-American politicians do not step up to the plate. 

Gone are the days for Latinos to hold up a victim card because IMMIGRATION IS A FEDERAL ISSUE.  Obama has the power to eliminate the “Arpaios” and the racial profiling goon squads in his 2nd term now.  This is exactly

Ranking by Population — Pew

why I voted for Obama in 2012 because I know he doesn’t have to worry about getting re-elected.  This is a hot button issue and again … the immigration issue is a federal one under the Supremacy Clause of our United States Constitution.  Be reminded that both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush waited til they were re-elected into their 2nd term before addressing immigration.  Everyone knows that a 2nd term President no longer has to worry about being re-elected, therefore, the Obama administration has clout — particularly when the Democratic Party still holds the majority seats in the Senate.

More importantly, everyone knows how women and Mexican-American / Latinos helped Democrats maintain their power on November 6, 2012.  Women and Latinos made a resounding voting statement in 2012 and Democrats cannot afford to lose that momentum.

Remember when Congressman Luis Gutierrez threatened Latinos would stay home and not vote in 2012 because Obama didn’t pass immigration reform within his 1st term?  (I really like Gutierrez — I really do, but he is Puerto Rican and he needs to be careful with painting with a broad brush especially since Mexican-Americans have been working hard on getting out the vote.  Several did not think the “don’t vote” message was productive).  Mexicanos must get out the vote because that is the only way they can show Washington D.C. that we are paying attention and it is a way to flex our political muscle.

That said, it was interesting for me to see how Nakaruma quoted Cuban-Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.  Doesn’t he know Cubans only make up 3% of the entire Latino population?  More importantly, doesn’t Nakaruma know that Rubio supported the controversial SB 1070 and did not support the DREAM Act when we needed it the most?  The person to seek a quote from is Sen. Robert Menendez (also Cuban-American) who has taken the initiative to put an immigration reform bill on the floor.

Who are the ones mostly getting deported?  It’s isn’t the Cubans — it is the Mexicans who were deported in record numbers, therefore, it makes sense to talk to more Mexican-American leaders who are feeling the pain the most because they are the ones who have witnessed their extended families forced apart and deported.

Where are the quotes of Mexican-American Representatives as it relates to where most of the population is at in the southwestern part of the United States?  Raul Grijalva, Ed Pastor, Toney Anaya, Xavier Becerra, Loretta Sanchez, Linda Sánchez, and so forth? Had the Democratic Mexican-American woman and candidate via Amanda Aguirre been elected this past year, we would have seen her take the bull by the horns on this issue.

Make no mistake, we are now living in the Information Age where keeping track of the Mexican-American politician(s) is easier with regard to their voting records and the initiatives they have taken at the Hill.  I am a mere writer who has no political power — and the ones who have the power are those elected officials who have been elected to push policies that will fix broken things at the Hill. Again, Arpaio’s racial profile regime can end when Congress fixes the clearly broken system.

It is critical for the Mexican-American voters to keep track of their Mexican-American representatives (particularly in the southwestern part of the United States where Mexicans dominate in population growth).  Where is the strong Mexican-American congressional politician at  to take the lead on immigration since the  immigration issue is a federal issue under the Supremacy Clause?  We all know the Supreme Court reinforced the Supremacy Clause issue during the summer of 2012 when most of SB1070 was shredded and gutted. Chicanos must work harder and be more assertive.  It is a good idea for the DREAM Act students to assert themselves because the political game is all about the ante up while raising the call.  While the DREAMers ante up via protests, Mexican-American and/or Latinos who agree with reasonable immigration ought to find what both sides can agree on and build from there.  Note:  Mexican-Americans and Chicanos will more than likely not be for building a class of people who are paying into the federal tax reserve system without proper representation.

Can we address both gun control on automatic / assault-type of weapons and fixing the broken immigration system?

I believe we can do both.

Nonetheless, I am curious what readers think and believe this poll is necessary to ascertain intelligence.

Inauguration Day is coming up, and we should take a proactive position on policies instead of a reactionary one.

In the meantime … do pray for the safety of our United States President.  These are two tough issues, and I’m concerned about the volatility of both the gun and immigration issue under the Obama administration.    Do you know how many racists in Arizona love their automatic and assault rifle weaponry?  Two examples from Arizona I have are J.T. Ready and Shawna Forde that will point to my concern with regard to how wacko racists with guns can be.

In the meantime, please take the poll below.  I voted “no” because I think we can address both issues in a productive and reasonable manner.

The California Open Primaries has helped a much needed Mexican-American candidate of California via Abel Maldonado.  I like Abel.  He didn’t demonize Mexican immigrants in order to get ahead and am especially glad to see more Mexican-American leadership.

As an independent voter living in Arizona — this is wonderful news.  As many of you might already know … independent voters in Arizona make up the 2nd largest party in our State.  As an independent voter who is hell bent on eliminating extremism from the fringe groups, I support the Open Primaries.  I believe in bipartisanship, hence my support for the top two primary elections.  Mexican-Americans in the southwest often look to Abel Maldonado because he is considered a ‘friendly’ to Latino politics in our Country.  Like Abel (of California), I support the Open Primaries in Arizona.

Here is what Arizona can learn from the California open primary elections of 2012.

Independent Thoughts on CA’s Primary Results

By Jason Olson on 06/07/2012 in California, Electoral Reform, Open Primaries, States with 0 Comments

The San Francisco Chronicle ran this headline across their front page yesterday:

It’s a little hard to believe that in April of 2010, I sat in a meeting with their editors and then Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado to pitch them on endorsing the “Top 2” open primary (Proposition 14). They did and their article today begins, “The potentially dramatic effects of two landmark ballot measures approved by California voters in recent years began to emerge Tuesday with a primary election that could lead to shifts in the state’s legislative profile in Sacramento and Washington.”

Congratulations again to the voters who supported the Top Two Open Primary and Redistricting Reform measures in past elections. Yesterday’s vote showed what removing party control over the elections can do. We had a primary process that was about selecting the best leader to move California forward, rather than who was the best partisan to fight for their party.

Yesterday five independent (“No Party Preference”) candidates running for the California Legislature placed in the “top two” of their respective races and will advance to the general election to face an incumbent. Top Two Open Primary champion Abel Maldonado (R) will also advance.

While the political parties are too entrenched for independents to change the outcome of elections more dramatically then that, we are impacting on the process as the Chronicle headline attests.

In the past, districts that heavily favored one major party over the other would be decided in the dominant party’s primary, making the general election meaningless. This year many of those districts feature races between two candidates of the same party, or against an independent candidate. This ensures that in November, all the candidates will have to work harder for the independent vote.

Take the 15th Congressional District. Over 58% of voters chose a candidate other than Pete Stark (D), a 40-year incumbent and the longest tenured elected official in the state. Stark won by a narrower-then-predicted margin of 42% to 36%. The other 22% (which the Chronicle doesn’t spell out) went to an independent candidate who did not advance but, in this new “top two” environment, is clearly holding cards with the power of his endorsement along with the voters who backed him.

I want to send a special congratulations to Abel Maldonado on his win in the 24^th Congressional District last night. Abel took on both political parties by putting the open primary on the ballot. We were proud to fight with him for open primaries, and we were proud to endorse him for Congress. Maldonado represents the kind of non-partisan leadership America needs.  We’re excited to bring that message to every independent in his district again in the general election.

I also want to congratulate independent Linda Parks, who IndependentVoice.Org endorsed in the 26^th Congressional District and who polled 18.5% of the vote to place third. Democrat Stacey Lawson [D - 26th CD] who we also endorsed, finished 4th in her contest with 10.1% of the vote. We were proud to support them both and look forward to building on those relationships. (link to endorsement press release)

Finally, this was the first election where forces of the independent movement became directly involved in State Legislative and Congressional Races. While our approaches were different, we sought to push the agenda embraced by independent voters: that partisanship has broken our government and the only way forward is fundamental political reform.

While the results were impressive for our first go around, they also show the challenges ahead. If we are to emerge as a “third force” (rather than a third party) in California politics, we must make the long-term investment in building our base at the grassroots.  IndependentVoice.Org and our national organization IndependentVoting.Org remain committed to that goal. I invite all of our partners in this election and those who share in those ideals to join with us.