Yeah, the ad that started airing today in Arizona says that. Our primary is February 28. Oh happy dagger, be quick.
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign on Friday unveiled a new Arizona ad that features Latinos criticizing President Barack Obama and extolling Gingrich's virtues. azcentral.com
Have a gander, 30 seconds:
"We owe Barack Obama nothing" says the first speaker in the all-Hispanic cast. Excuse me? Who is finally reining in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio after a Department of Justice study revealed wide-spread and systematic racial profiling in the Sheriff's Office? Who supports the DREAM Act and, in opposition from Congress, enacted an "Executive Order Lite" to enable some of the Act's best features, like education? Certainly not Newt Gingrich, who, along with Romney, only supports the Act for young undocumented immigrants who want to join the military, but not for those who want to pursue a college education:
"That is an insulting idea," said Daniela Alulema, 25, a leader in the struggle for passage of the DREAM Act. "What they are saying is that we are good only for war." NYDailyNews.com
Sure, you can be a citizen if you go protect my ass, but not if you want to educate yourself. Speaking of education, correct me if I'm wrong video guy, but I don't think it was Barack Obama who ended the
Mexican American Studies program in Tucson, was it? Here we had a largely Hispanic community -- students, teachers, and parents -- who supported the multicultural curriculum because of its
positive outcomes (graduations rates, college entrances, etc.), while the mostly white, crabby
Republican men in Phoenix knew better.
The same hip dude speaker in the ad goes on to say, "And immigration is a bigger mess than ever." The last time I checked it was Jan "Headless Bodies" Brewer, Joe Arpaio, and recalled Senator Russell Pearce, all Republican dickwads, who keep making an immigration stink. Swallow your Maalox and listen to Pearce's new radio show on Ban Amnesty Now if you want to wade through some Grade A anti-Mexican sewage.
At the same time the GOP continues its hair-on-fire rants about Mexicans coming to take our jobs (even better: now Mexicans are in league with Hezbollah), the Obama administration has doubled the number of border agents (from 10,000 under Bush to 20,000 now) and crossings are down 40 percent from last year. Crime is also down, dropping 43 percent in Nogales. How is any of that "a bigger mess than ever"? It's like Romney saying Obama "made the recession worse," even though the nation has experienced nearly two years of private sector job growth.
But Newt? Newt Friggin' Gingrich as the choice of Latinos? Gag me with a spoon. One persecutor of reality in the ad says Gingrich, as Speaker of the House, created 11 million jobs. Where is that spoon? Newt Gingrich shut down the friggin' government and then got his butt booted (and fined). The job growth and balanced budgets during that time were due mostly to the 1993 Clinton budget, which "passed in spite of Gingrich's efforts," said the former President.
Then a young Latina in the ad says, "He knows us, understands us and shares our conservative values." True, there's a segment of conservative Catholic Hispanics, which runs around 25% - 30% in most political races here. But to say Gingrich "knows" and "understands" them is not even an echo of truth. Maybe he'll suggest their kids should be janitors too, because he "understands" them so well.
On the other hand, while most candidates in the GOP carnival have spent the past half year demonizing Mexicans, trying to out-crazy one another on immigration, Gingrich at least expressed a dollop of common sense early in the race when he said there's no way we're going to deport 11 million undocumented people. Like long-gone Perry, he even used the word "humane" to frame immigration policy. That immediately drew bullets from other candidates, who accused Newt of being a pro-illegal, amnesty-loving, roly-poly softy on immigration.
Well, that won't stand, so in his next press conference last December Gingrich said one of his first acts as President will be to build, not just a fence, but a double fence, along the entire US-Mexico border:
As other candidates attack him for being too soft on unauthorized immigration, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich signed a pledge on Thursday to build a double fence along the entirety of the southern border of the United States. HuffPo
That's a great way to appeal to Hispanics in Arizona, Newt. Go for it. Brag up your double fucking fence. Throw in a moat. And while you're at it, come out and
support SB 1070 and English Only. Great strategy, Newt. Then say Obama "refuses to patrol the border," while the facts blow up in your face.
Maybe today's ad is part of that $10 million that Sheldon Adelson is supposedly giving Gingrich. Whatever, it's money down the drain -- certainly for the primary, when Newt should attack his opponents, not a President whose policies are popular with the community. During the 2008 Presidential race Hispanics went 67-31% for Obama nationally and 56-41% for Obama in Arizona, due to the favorite son status of McCain. (Maybe Romney will try to claim Arizona as his home, since he's seems to do it in every other state.) Currently, only 31% of Latinos disapprove of Obama's performance, and a slice of that number doesn't dislike Obama because he's refused to enact the policies Gingrich supports (SB 1070, etc.), but because he hasn't been progressive enough.
Upon releasing the ad today, Gingrich's campaign said:
"Unlike most campaigns, Newt Gingrich does not treat Latinos as a political convenience. His relationship is based on respect for the culture and the values of this community, as well as admiration for their history of hard work and contributions to the economic success of this nation." azcentral.com
Of course not, this ad has nothing to do with using people as a "political convenience." And he respects their language and culture so much he wants to keep it out of America. Newt is such an admirer of their "hard work" that they can go dodge bullets, but not earn a degree, in order to be a contributing citizen.
The only thing I can think of that Gingrich isn't doing to win the Hispanic vote is maybe go on Russell Pearce's radio program.