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December 16, 2009 05:53 PM UTC

Latinos Lash Tancredo to McInnis

  • 15 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

We told you the chickens from gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis’ “Contract for Colorado” “Platform for Prosperity,” publicly sponsored and co-authored by hard-line former Rep. Tom Tancredo, would come home to roost. And today, the Denver Post reports:

A year after angering some Colorado Latinos, Gov. Bill Ritter on Tuesday stood shoulder to shoulder with dozens of Latino leaders endorsing him for a second term.

Speaking at the Auraria campus in downtown Denver, Ritter, a Democrat, said he and the Latino community have had disagreements but still share common goals…

Paul Sandoval also noted the occasional discord between Ritter and Latinos but said, “I would rather have a somebody there with me 90 percent of the time who is a Democrat than a Republican who is 100 percent against me.”

And what would those common goals be? Well, it’s safe to say that once McInnis took the stage holding hands with Tom Tancredo, they became much easier to understand.

Baca said Latinos have an easy choice between Ritter and his presumptive Republican opponent, former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis.

“Even though there is some concern with Gov. Ritter, given the alternative, certainly Gov. Ritter is better,” she said.

She said Latino leaders don’t like the “appearance of Scott McInnis making a deal with (former GOP congressman) Tom Tancredo.”

And just so there’s no understating what’s in play here:

Latinos accounted for about 13 percent of Colorado voters in the 2008 presidential election, according to exit polling from Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International. That was up from about 8 percent of the total voters in 2004.

In a way, what’s happening here is similar to criticism we’ve directed at Bill Ritter for trying too hard–at the expense of good relations with his base–to appease the chimeral “business community,” which to the extent it can be discussed as a singular entity (not really) can never be counted on to support Democrats, and whose support is of questionable value with economically disaffected voters anyway.

What we have here is similar tactically, but with potentially much worse consequences: McInnis trying to appease a small number of vocal hardliners on his right (who are disinclined to support him), in the process alienating the fastest-growing bloc of swing voters in the country. What do you think is more likely: a Latino holding their nose to vote for “McInnis/Tancredo Unity,” or a union member deciding the perfect can’t be the enemy of the good in the case of Bill Ritter?

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15 thoughts on “Latinos Lash Tancredo to McInnis”

  1. Everybody’s so afraid right now. Oh noes, we’re going to lose it all!1!

    No we’re not. The “Platform” is a house of cards. The GOP no longer has a base capable of electing them. And McInnis made some very bad choices, at the top of the list his decision to jump in bed with Tom Tancredo.

    Ritter will be reelected, I’m putting steak on it right here for anybody who wants the action.

  2. Some of the strongest opponents of illegal invasion are Hispanic-AMERICANS.

    Why did Tancredo have so many Hispanics on his staff? Tancredo does not divide America, liberals do.

    1. Don’t expect the Latino vote to go to anyone who buddies with Tancredo.  He makes it all too clear that it isn’t just illegals he objects to.  Tancredo is a racist, a bigot and a xenophobe and everyone knows it.

      McInnis is not the type to energize the GOP base or appeal to the Tea Party fringe so  if Latino leaders like Baca can manage a first rate GOTV effort in their community, that will go a long way toward insuring that Ritter stays.  

  3. Taking a bunch of LIBERAL Hispanics and assuming they represent all Hispanics is like taking the KKK and assuming they speak for all white people, isn’t it?

    2. Tancredo has shared the stage with white supremacists and took their money.

      I think his supporters should be careful of bringing up the KKK.

      Tancredo pandered to racists by attending a rally in South Carolina in 2006, speaking from a Confederate-flag-bedecked podium to an audience that included people in Confederate uniforms and “redshirts” from a local white-supremacist group, and even – he admits this! – joining his audience in singing “Dixie”! No wonder racist groups like American Vanguard and Stormfront absolutely love him.

      http://www.tomtancredo.org/

    3. Most of the Hispanics who endorsed Governor Ritter yesterday have been leaders in the Hispanic community, not for years, but for decades. They have represented and spoken for that community for a very long time and still do so. They can’t and don’t expect to deliver every single Hispanic vote to Governor Ritter next year but he is in a much better position with the Hispanic community than any Republican candidate. With Tancredo still one of the power players in the Colorado Republican Party and the national Party, plus his idea that hanging out with KKK types in South Carolina is good Republican politics, the Hispanics aren’t going to endorse Republican candidates who accept Tancredo’s support and Mr. McInnis has.  

  4. I don’t think immigration is on the top of anyone’s list of most important issues (except perhaps Mr. Tancredo) in next year’s election.  

    I’m not surprised that Latinos as a group support the D’s but that there are individuals that work and support R’s at this particular time in history.  At one time voting blacks largely supported R’s until Lyndon Johnson and the civil rights act.  The military largely support R’s but that’s not to say next year Governor Ritter won’t have some notables speak on his behalf.

    I don’t see that Tancredo’s support or opposition is going to be a significant factor in next years election but then I’ve been wrong before.  

    1. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t there going to be an E-verify ballot measure from Tancredo? And isn’t E-verify part of the “Platform for Prosperity?”

      History lessons aside, if we’re to believe you McInnis wants to have it…both ways.

    2. but what Hispanic leaders don’t like is the fact that Republican leaders like Tancredo are willing to accept support from and be seen with racist organizations. It is one thing to support a particular point of view on immigration policy but quite another to accept support for that point of view from the raw racist fringes of society like Tancredo has done over the past several years. McInnis accepted Tancredo’s support without uttering one word objecting to some of the groups that support Tancredo’s immigration stance. The question for Mr. McInnis is whether or not he rejects racist groups like the ones Tancredo has consorted with?

      1. American goes ape-shit over Immigration every 18 years, and then drops it for 17. So for the vast majority of voters it’s a non-issue.

        But there are two groups it remains an issue for. First the teabaggers – who will vote for McInnis regardless. But with this he gets their enthusiastic support. And enthusiasm helps.

        Second is the Hispanic community who by and large see how Tancredo and company used illegal immigration as a cover for racism. The actual illegal problem is gone, but the racist attacks remains front and center. For this group McInnis just shoved them into Ritter’s arms.

        So Scott McInnis gained enthusiasm but lost votes. Not a good deal for him.

        1. David, David. The only sure thing about the tea partiers is hey’re not going to vote for Ritter.These are not folks who believe in the civic duty of voting every line in every election.

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