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Posted on 08/16/2003 12:46:34 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Anybody who has ever owned a swimming pool knows that before you buy one, no one visits. But as soon as you get one, a stream of smiling friends shows up at your door, towels and suntan lotion in hand.
The state's Latinos had a similar experience recently when a smiling Gov. Davis showed up at their doors, pen in hand, promising to sign a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to have driver's licenses. Davis had twice vetoed similar bills, stinging many Latino activists who supported it. Yet less than a year later, as Davis is apparently on his gubernatorial death march, he appears to have had a conversion.
It's obvious that the sudden change of heart is part of a calculated effort to win crucial Latino votes. It was kind of pathetic to see Davis appear on a Spanish-language television network saying "Me llamo Gris Davis." In Spanish, "gris" is the color gray.
On one level, you can hardly blame Davis for trying. Hispanics make up more than a third of California's population, and Davis has always enjoyed their overwhelming support in the past. In 1998, he captured 71 percent of the Latino vote, according to a Los Angeles Times exit poll. But on another level, it may be too late to woo Latinos. A recent Field Poll found that 49 percent of Hispanics support the recall. With Lt. Gov Cruz Bustamante jumping into the fray, things can only get worse for Davis.
The possibility of Latino voters abandoning Davis shouldn't be a big surprise considering his relationship with Hispanics was never perfect. Despite all the simplistic arguments claiming Latinos automatically vote this way or that way like Pavlov's dog, they aren't slavishly devoted to any candidate. Like most Americans, they consider the issues. And that has sometimes put Latinos at odds with stances taken by the governor.
There are many examples of this, but perhaps two will suffice.
The most important one occurred in the aftermath of Proposition 187, which sought to deny social benefits to many illegal immigrants. It's hard to overstate the loathing that many Hispanics had for the proposition, which was viewed as anti-immigrant and anti-Latino. Representatives for gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger conceded last week that he voted for the measure.
Voters passed Proposition 187 in 1994. A U.S. district judge ruled it unconstitutional, but Davis' predecessor, then Gov. Pete Wilson -- who, incidentally, is one of Schwarzenegger's campaign chairmen -- appealed the decision. When Davis took office, he could have abandoned the appeal relatively easily, for all intents and purposes killing Proposition 187 and gaining the admiration of many Latinos throughout the state.
He didn't.
Instead, he breathed new life into the initiative, asking the 9th District Court of Appeals' Mediation Services to broker a compromise solution. That move was viewed by many of the state's Latinos as a betrayal. Bustamante, the first Latino elected lieutenant governor in 128 years, publicly blasted the governor and skewered the Republicans who supported the proposition.
"No political party can practice the wedge-issue, race-baiting politics that's out there and then assume Latinos and other immigrant groups are going to forget," Bustamante told an audience at Scripps College in 2000.
"You will pay a price."
Thankfully, the courts eventually nullified most of Proposition 187.
But many Latinos remember.
Another political scuffle between Davis and Latinos broke out last year when the United Farm Workers union, founded by cultural icon Cesar Chavez, pressured the governor to sign legislation that would establish binding arbitration whenever a union and a grower could not agree on a labor contract. In the past, growers have been major contributors to Davis' campaign, but he's also enjoyed the support of the UFW. While the UFW's strength is nowhere near what it was during its heyday, the union still has symbolic importance.
Again, Davis initially refused to take a stand on the issue -- that is, until the UFW unleashed its trademark political tactics. The union held a 165-mile march up the Central Valley that ended with a rally at the Capitol. The UFW also applied pressure through various legislators, including Senate President Pro Tem John Burton and urged its supporters to e-mail the governor directly.
In the end, Davis signed a watered-down version of the bill, angering his agribusiness supporters. After Davis' lukewarm stance on both Proposition 187 and the binding arbitration bill, many Latinos doubtless wondered about the strength of their relationship with the governor.
And perhaps many continue to wonder.
How they resolve that doubt will become evident in October.
Thankfully, the courts eventually nullified most of Proposition 187.
Whew, thank goodness THAT was nulified so Californians don't have to worry about "paying the price"!
ok, kalifornica. what do you want?
tax paying gringo's...
or, breeding,freeloading,3rd world pendajo's???
get off the fence! its time to decide! now!!!
calgov2002:
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...it's about as equally hard to overstate the loathing that many LEGAL California citizens had for the proposition, which was viewed as pro-illegal immigration, pro-Socialist, anti-borders, anti-law, and most of all a big F*** Y** to the Calfornia taxpayers who are already bent over in taxes.
Hit 'em again... Harder... HARDER!!!
Huh? What you say??? Come again??? (grin)
That will get some panties all wound up here on FR!!!
We'll just keep that our little secret, ok? (still grinning) I won't tell anyone else, either. Nobody will know, ever!!!
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