The Smithian

February 13th, 2013

'Republicans are absolutely convinced that there's nothing wrong with their policy agenda, and there are no substantive lessons to be learned from their 2012 defeats. It's why they're still pushing abortion legislation, still waging a war on voting, still pushing to defund Planned Parenthood, and still refusing to compromise on fiscal issues. And of 11 hours ago, they're still pushing Mitt Romney's platform, subtly repackaged for Marco Rubio.'

February 13th, 2013

thesmithian

'The seminal study of the minimum wage, done by economists David Card and Alan Krueger, found that job creation was actually strengthened by an increase in the minimum wage. This result has been found time and time again. So Rubio and Ryan have the history exactly backwards: raising the minimum wage results in higher wages and more purchasing power for workers, not job losses.'

February 12th, 2013

thesmithian

'Okay, so Marco Rubio will propose tax reform (just like Mitt Romney), more digging and drilling for oil and gas (just like Mitt Romney), and some sort of tax benefit for job training (just like Mitt Romney). He'll also accuse President Obama of wanting nothing but big government and of opposing our enterprise system (just like Mitt Romney). And, finally, he'll claim that by raising taxes on wealthy people, President Obama is trying to hurt middle-class families (just like Mitt Romney).'

February 11th, 2013

thesmithian

Zoom

Rubio is…a politician of unusual gifts. But the spotlight that has fallen on this relatively new arrival to the national scene says as much about the state of the Republican Party as it does about the 41-year-old senator. And it remains to be seen whether he represents the solution to the GOP’s problems, or whether the party’s sky-high hopes in an untested newcomer are just another measure of its drift. His appeal starts with the fact that Rubio embodies two demographic groups with which the GOP needs to connect: young people and Hispanics.

more.
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art: drawing by Carlos Pijeira

Rubio is…a politician of unusual gifts. But the spotlight that has fallen on this relatively new arrival to the national scene says as much about the state of the Republican Party as it does about the 41-year-old senator. And it remains to be seen whether he represents the solution to the GOP’s problems, or whether the party’s sky-high hopes in an untested newcomer are just another measure of its drift. His appeal starts with the fact that Rubio embodies two demographic groups with which the GOP needs to connect: young people and Hispanics.

more.

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art: drawing by Carlos Pijeira

February 7th, 2013

thesmithian

his response to the coverline, here.

October 25th, 2012

thesmithian

‘Birtherism. Immigration reform. Jeremiah Wright. The Herman Cain campaign. Marco Rubio. The Obama Phone.’

…Issues pertaining to race and ethnicity have been incredibly important to the 2012 election…But almost all the people covering those stories have been white, according to an analysis by 4th Estate…The media analysis organization looked at who’s writing front-page stories for major papers, including a breakdown by broad topic area. It found that 93 percent of page one articles on the election were written by white reporters, with Asian Americans writing 3.3 percent, blacks writing just under 3 percent, and Hispanics penning 0.7 percent. In contrast, the numbers among the general population are 56.1 percent white, 16.3 percent Hispanic, about 5 percent Asian, and 12.6 percent black…

more.

October 8th, 2011

thesmithian

'...Five Republican presidential candidates are boycotting a proposed Univision debate due to allegations that the Spanish-language media giant tried to strongarm Sen. Marco Rubio, a vice-presidential shortlister, with a controversial story about a relative. Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman and Michele Bachmann issued statements Tuesday saying Univision needs to make amends before they would appear at the debate...'

November 14th, 2010

thesmithian

…in most of the top races across the country, among Latino voters Democrats beat Republicans by nearly a 2-1 margin. Only in Florida, where Cuban-Americans traditionally favor Republicans, were some GOP candidates able to surpass Democrats among Latinos…In many races in which the Republican winner was a Latino—with one exception being the Florida U.S. Senate race, in which Cuban-American Marco Rubio was elected with 55 percent of the Hispanic vote — the majority of the Hispanic vote went for the Democrat….It happened in New Mexico, where Republican and immigration hard-liner Susana Martinez was elected governor—the first Latina in that position—without the majority of the Hispanic vote. It happened in Nevada, where Brian Sandoval—another anti-immigrant advocate—became the first Latino governor, without the majority of the Hispanic vote. And it happened in various congressional races in which Latino Republican candidates sold their souls to the racist and xenophobic anti-immigrant movement just to get elected.

and so, Miguel Perez goes on to say:

They are Hispanic, and they are elected leaders. But seeing as the new crop of Latino Republicans mostly were elected by non-Latinos — because majorities of Hispanics often voted against them — can we call them Latino leaders? If they have vowed to follow conservative Republican/tea party agendas that are clearly anti-Hispanic, can we really call them Latino leaders just because they have Hispanic surnames?

…in most of the top races across the country, among Latino voters Democrats beat Republicans by nearly a 2-1 margin. Only in Florida, where Cuban-Americans traditionally favor Republicans, were some GOP candidates able to surpass Democrats among Latinos…In many races in which the Republican winner was a Latino—with one exception being the Florida U.S. Senate race, in which Cuban-American Marco Rubio was elected with 55 percent of the Hispanic vote — the majority of the Hispanic vote went for the Democrat….It happened in New Mexico, where Republican and immigration hard-liner Susana Martinez was elected governor—the first Latina in that position—without the majority of the Hispanic vote. It happened in Nevada, where Brian Sandoval—another anti-immigrant advocate—became the first Latino governor, without the majority of the Hispanic vote. And it happened in various congressional races in which Latino Republican candidates sold their souls to the racist and xenophobic anti-immigrant movement just to get elected.

and so, Miguel Perez goes on to say:

They are Hispanic, and they are elected leaders. But seeing as the new crop of Latino Republicans mostly were elected by non-Latinos — because majorities of Hispanics often voted against them — can we call them Latino leaders? If they have vowed to follow conservative Republican/tea party agendas that are clearly anti-Hispanic, can we really call them Latino leaders just because they have Hispanic surnames?

September 16th, 2010

thesmithian

Such opposing views Between Tea Partiers and Hispanics are exemplified by the recent decision by Marco Rubio in Florida, a Tea Party darling, to “distance himself from the Tea Party” and seek a more moderated position on key issues for Hispanics…Now that Rubio is in 3-way race, Rubio wants to focus more on pressing issues for independents and Hispanics in Florida. This shift on tone by Rubio is important because, unlike Alaska, Kentucky, and Nevada where Tea Party Candidates have won, Florida is large heavily Hispanic populated and a moderate state. Similarly California, Texas, and Florida are all Hispanics states and highly populated, and the most taxed per-capita, yet Tea Party candidates were rejected. Conversely, Alaska—a “welfare state“—Kentucky and Nevada, states that have chosen Tea Party senatorial candidate(s), are rural and heavily subsidized states.

Somos Republicans’ Alex Gonzales, conservative political analyst/commentator

via HHR