Hearing the questions for the presidential candidates in Spanish one after another for more than an hour was gripping.
Wow! When I sat down to watch last night’s Democratic Presidential Forum on Univision, I knew that I was in for a treat but did not realize that it would be so lively. During the DNC American Majority Partnership Summit in Las Vegas, several dozen of us in attendance had the unique opportunity of hearing right from the mouth of media executives just how important the Spanish-language networks will be this election cycle. Needless to say, I was excited by what I heard. However, when the clock struck 7:05 and the first question was posed to Senator Obama (in Spanish!), I couldn’t help but giggle.
As one of the few Spanish-speaking Congressional candidates this cycle, I am particularly aware of how disappointed many Hispanics are with their representation on Capitol Hill and the deaf ear it sometimes turns to the unique needs of the Latin community. Such awareness leads me to wonder even more, then, about why the response to Univision’s invitation to the Republican presidential candidates has been so tepid. I suppose that they haven’t read La Ola Latina, one of Jorge Ramos’ books about the role of the Latin vote in electing presidents.
Kudos to Univision for their idea, for their dedication to being a top-tier provider of political news, for their limited commercial interruptions of last night’s event and to their contemporaries, such as Telemundo, for doing their part as well! Let’s hope that the first-ever public forum in Spanish for presidential candidates is a vanguard event.