Republicans will feature five prominent Hispanics -- Govs. Susana Martinez (NM), Brian Sandoval (NV), Luis Fortuno (Puerto Rico), Sen. Marco Rubio (FL), and Senate candidate Ted Cruz (TX) -- in their national convention's primetime lineup.
Yet, the mainstream media continues to paint Republicans as a party that needs to be more inclusive while ignoring the lack of prominent national Democrats who are Hispanic.
If Cruz wins the Texas Senate seat, as he is expected to do, Republicans will have five Hispanic senators and governors. And three of the states (New Mexico, Nevada, Florida) that have elected Hispanic Republicans to high-profile posts are crucial swing states with a significant number of Hispanic voters.
Cruz will be featured on Tuesday. Martinez will speak before Paul Ryan on Wednesday. And Marco Rubio will speak before Mitt Romney.
Meanwhile, Democrats only have one Hispanic politician who has been elected to a high-profile office -- Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), who is of Cuban descent.
Democrats often tout the importance of the Mexican vote, but there are no Democrats of Mexican descent on the national level. Two of the party’s most prominent politicians of Mexican descent -- Antonio Villaraigosa (Los Angeles, CA), who chairs the Democratic National Convention, and Julian Castro (San Antonio, Texas), who will keynote the convention -- are mayors.
Democrats often paint Republicans as anti-Hispanic and Democrats as the party of inclusion, but prominent Democrats who make these arguments are often not of Hispanic descent. And yet, the "neutral" mainstream media continues to run segments about how the GOP needs to diversify its ranks while never running any segments or that ask why a party they assume Hispanics should support en masse has failed to elect Hispanics to high-profile positions.
When Mitt Romney addressed the National Association of Latino and Appointed Officials (NALEO) this year, he said Democrats often take the Hispanic vote for granted. And Hispanics may seriously think about what Romney said given the dearth of prominent
Hispanic Democrats in high-profile offices.
