At a press conference here organized by the Democratic National Committee in Tampa this morning, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigoso said that Republicans “can’t just trot out a brown face” to appeal to members of the Latino community.
The GOP is planning to parade some of its Hispanic members before the national convention such as Rep. Francisco Canseco, R-Texas. Sher Valenzuela, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Delaware, Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Texas GOP Senate nominee Ted Cruz in an attempt to appeal to Latino voters.
However, Mayor Villaraigoso dismisses such efforts as insincere noting “You can’t just trot out a brown face or a Spanish surname and expect people are going to vote for your party or your candidate”. He later added that “People are going to vote just like Anglos do, just like African-Americans do, and virtually every demographic group. They vote for people based on what they say, what they’ve done, and what they’re going to do”.
In an interview with CNN later in the day, the mayor went on to predict:
“I think when it’s all said and done that President Obama is going to get somewhere close to 70 percent of the Latino vote. I think he is because the Republican Party and Mitt Romney have gone so far to the right on issues that are important to them. And it’s not just immigration where he’s talked about the self-deportation of 11 million people and called the dream act a handout. It’s also health care. Nine million Latinos will benefit from the Affordable Care Act. It’s also the cuts to education that will come with the Romney-Ryan plan.” (Video below)
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