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 Editorials | May 2006 
Fox Visit May Impact Elections in California
 Carla Marinucci - San Francisco Chronicle
| | U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, speaks during a rally to build a fence along the U.S./Mexican border near Palominas, Ariz. on Saturday, May 27, 2006. Scores of volunteers gathered at a remote ranch Saturday to help a civilian border-patrol group start building a short security fence in hopes of reducing illegal immigration from Mexico. (AP/Khampha Bouaphanh) |
The visit of Mexican President Vicente Fox to the state Capitol last week provided some enduring - and often emotional - snapshots that dramatized just how the trip will continue to resonate during California's election year.
There was the group of young Mexican catering workers at the fancy museum reception standing with tears in their eyes as Fox addressed them in Spanish, saying, "Dear countrymen ... we love you."
There was Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez - the co-chair of the campaign of Democratic candidate for governor Phil Angelides - effusively praising Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as "the man who put California back on track."
And there was confrontation: the gaggle of Republican legislators who, sitting silently before Fox during a state address, wore yellow buttons declaring, "No Mas" - "No More" in English. It was a sentiment aimed at illegal immigration, but which some Latinos said reminded them of another political motto that still rankles: Proposition 187's "They Keep Coming."
For Schwarzenegger, the Fox trip was a political grand slam in a month in which he has enjoyed more than a few good days: an upbeat budget forecast, an infrastructure bond deal and the backing of the Democratic legislative leadership on both issues.
But for the conservative wing of Schwarzenegger's party, its reaction to Fox's trip may alienate California's growing number of Latino voters in much the same way that the Prop. 187 anti-illegal immigration campaign did more than a decade ago - forcing the governor to walk carefully along a narrow path in the fall.
Schwarzenegger was seen as a statesmanlike figure alongside Fox, talking up trade, jobs and a warm relationship with the U.S.' southern neighbor - and the governor got lucky on two counts: Núñez, who was outspokenly opposed to Schwarzenegger during last year's special election, has been equally outspoken in giving the governor credit recently for the bond deal and efforts to reach out to Mexico.
At Thursday's reception, Núñez proclaimed that "California is once again on the move ... thanks to this man," a statement that prompted Schwarzenegger to laughingly issue the speaker an invitation to "join my campaign."
Moderate Republicans, such as Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia of Cathedral City (Riverside County), joked that the moment will make a great Schwarzenegger re-election campaign commercial.
Schwarzenegger earlier looked even more bipartisan and moderate after a handful of conservative GOP legislators made a decision to boycott Fox's visit - or take part in the "No Mas" button protest during the Mexican president's speech to the Legislature.
"I was very disappointed in my GOP friends," said longtime Sacramento attorney Steve Merksamer, an influential political insider at a California Chamber of Commerce dinner to welcome Fox on Friday. "It was a mistake," he said. "It's fair to have differences - but civility and respect are important."
"It could look as if they're trying to say, 'You're not welcome here ... no immigration at all,' " said Yolanda Benson, the deputy secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing.
Benson said she understood the lawmakers' message to be "no more illegal immigration," but she wondered if for Latino voters, "it could be misconstrued."
Some Democrats were even more critical, charging outright that Republicans appeared to be showing disrespect to millions of Latino voters with their treatment of Fox.
"You'd think Fidel Castro were here," said San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno. "It's so insulting. It's not adult behavior."
But state Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks (Sacramento County), who distributed the buttons, said the effort by Republicans like himself who sat on their hands during Fox's address was intended merely as an expression of concern about a growing problem.
"This is 'No Mas' illegal immigration," he said. "We were not disrespectful with our badges, no more than a person who might have any other kind of ribbon or button."
But if last week's events were campaign fodder for Schwarzenegger, they served the same purpose for Fox.
As Mexicans approach their July 2 presidential election, Fox is not on the ballot, but he was clearly in campaign mode.
In his appearance Friday before about 200 state business leaders at the state Chamber of Commerce, Fox delivered a detailed report of his administration's accomplishments - and made the not-so-subtle case for the continued leadership of his party, the PAN, in the next election.
He talked about jobs, inflation, immigration and the economy in depth - and repeatedly made the case for more investment by California businesses in Mexico.
"Today, we have the most solid economy we've ever had," he said, adding that inflation is down and interest rates are low.
And he made note that such work required an enormous rebuilding and re-engineering of the entire Mexican political system to achieve what he called "a very solid, very strong financial market."
With those remarks, Fox was speaking, not so much to the Sacramento audience, but to millions of Mexicans back home. The Mexican president traveled to California with a huge press corps of 40 Mexican reporters and photographers, all diligently reporting his actions and speeches for broadcast in the homeland.
Sometimes, he reached his audience in unexpected places - as at the tony reception Thursday night for guests and lawmakers at the California Museum, where much of the repast was prepared by immigrant workers.
In their white serving uniforms, three young catering workers, Gerardo Osario, Marcela Cantere and Yesica Arevalo, stood in the back listening intently to Fox's speech. They were moved by his words to them as "queridos paisanos y paisanas," - "my dear countrymen and women" - and watched with pride as he posed for photos with many in the crowd.
"He is a great man," said Cantere, a native of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco. "We believe in him and the future of Mexico."
Email Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com. |
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