NYT/Reuters: Powerful Latino DJs to Mount Immigrant Voter Drive

[DeepModem Mom]

Powerful Latino DJs to Mount Immigrant Voter Drive
By REUTERS
Published: July 7, 2006

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two Latino radio hosts credited for mobilizing hundreds of thousands this year in pro-immigrant protests said on Friday they would join the drive to increase the Hispanic and immigrant vote in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Los Angeles disc jockeys Piolin (Tweetybird) and El Cucuy (the Bogeyman) said they will work with the National Council of La Raza and other organizations to push Latino immigrants living in the United States to become U.S. citizens and register to vote in time to cast ballots in 2008.

Immigration promises to be one of the big issues in the 2006 mid-term congressional elections and the 2008 presidential election as the future of some 12 million undocumented immigrants divides Congress and President George W. Bush's Republican Party.

An estimated 8 million Latinos are legal residents in the United States who qualify for naturalization as U.S. citizens, including 3 million in California alone, activists said.

National Council of La Raza president Janet Murguia said Spanish-language radio DJs could help add at least another 3 million Latino voters to the 7.5 million who cast ballots in 2004, helping to elect more pro-immigration politicians....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-immigration-voters.html

[Drum]

1. I mean no offense regarding the OP,

but I never thought I'd see "powerful" and "DJs" in the same sentence, much less a headline.

Nevertheless, I am SO a believer in the power of music! I say through our musical selves let us be awakened and motivated....

-Drum

(edit: spellling)

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Yes, indeed! nt

[Terran1212]

3. Looks like the harsh GOPers are going to get to taste payback

For all the bigoted, heartless people in their GOP Congress who were trying to hang every illegal immigrant in the town square.

[Mountainman]

4. "We Dems must become anti immigrant to win" right ?

Where are the anti immigrant DUers on this one? Should we send these folks back to Mexico before they have a chance to become voting citizens? Should we as Dems turn anti immigrant to win and hope the hell these folks still support us if and when they become voting citizens?

Or would it make more sense to welcome them into the fold and grow our party?

[fasttense]

5. I don't see many anti-immigrant posters on DU

mostly they are anti-illegals. You know illegal immigrants, they are not citizens and can't vote. It is one of the things they give up when they decide to cross the border or stay in this country illegally. But some of them can and did vote in the Mexican elections.

Seems to me during the 2004 election for our pResident, the bushes were touting the Hispanic vote as one of the reasons they won. So I'm not so sure you can guarantee that all immigrants are going to vote for the Democratic party.

[Mountainman]

6. I don't buy the idea that those who are anti immigrant have as a reason

the immigrants are illegal. That is just a convenient justification to be anti immigrant. I can't accept that people are anti immigrant because of a values judgment. Whether they are here illegally or not does not change the fact that they are immigrants that someday may become citizens and then could vote. When that happens they will vote their pocket books just as anyone would. The repubs do not help their pocket books at all since the lower and middle classes are not the constituency of the repubs.

Also I did not say illegal immigrants can or should be allowed to vote. I said immigrants who become citizens could vote. We could swell the ranks of the Dem party if and when the immigrants become citizens and vote with us.

Now, sending them back to Mexico would not be helpful at all in that case.