A couple of days ago, I was made aware of this recent comment by National Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean:
“They can’t become more diverse,” [National Democratic Party Chairman Howard] Dean said. “Who in their right mind, if they were African American or Hispanic or Asian American, if they were gay or lesbian, would join the Republican Party?”
As an American, who also happens to be a registered Hispanic Republican voter in his right mind, I have to tell you I find Chairman Dean’s attack on my personal decisions as nothing short of offensive. My guess is that I’m not alone. In fact, I don’t need to guess. I know I’m not alone. You see, 23% of registered Hispanic voters identify themselves as Republicans.
According to a Pew Hispanic Center population report, there are over 18 million eligible Hispanic voters in the United States (pdf). In other words, Chairman Dean has called over 4 million eligible Hispanics crazy for being Republican. A tried and proven Democratic strategy under Chairman Dean’s leadership – insult those who think different from you.
Lest you think this is nothing more than Republican spin on my part, please take a look at what one liberal blogger has to say about the Clinton’s and their approach to minorities:
So, America’s first Hispanic governor, Bill Richardson, decided to support Obama and look what the Clintons have done … they’ve made him into Judas.
Wonder if the bells are going off in America’s Hispanic community? If so, do the people understand what the bells are warning against? The bells should be warning the Hispanic community of this simple fact:
The Clintons will ALWAYS love and honor the Hispanic community … as long as the Hispanic community does, says, and votes EXACTLY as the Clintons say they should.
As one Democrat put it, The Clintons are ALWAYS there when they need you.
Go ahead and read that passage again. Only this time substitute “Democrats” for every instance of “Clintons” and the truth becomes painfully clear. The Democrats love to play the race card.
They use it in their primaries against one another, and then after the primaries they try to use it against Republicans. It is a divide and conquer approach to politics based on planting seeds of racial prejudice and distrust nurtured by personal attacks and insults.
The Republican approach is based on appeal to values and principles, not prejudice and hate. That, Chairman Dean, is why I am a red, white and blue Hispanic Republican through and through.