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 News from Around the Americas | July 2006 
Schwarzenegger Seeking to Mend Ties with Hispanics
 Laura Kurtzman - Associated Press
| | Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announces his plan for the formation of “Hispanic Families for Arnold” during a conference in Lynwood, Calif., on Tuesday. July 11, 2006. “Hispanic Families for Arnold” is group of The group of community leaders support Schwarzenegger’s re-election. (Associated Press) |
Norwalk - Mention Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in this heavily Hispanic section of Los Angeles County and the response is almost invariably negative.
"I still think he's an actor, and not a good one at that," said Flora Lopez, 56, a supervision aide at a local school.
"To me, Arnold hasn't done anything," said America Aguilar, 26, a student at California State University, Fullerton.
"He cut the budget for the schools," said Arely Gonzales, a 27-year-old nurse, who pronounced the governor, "Awful."
Their harsh views illustrate how far Schwarzenegger's star has fallen among Hispanics since the heady days of the 2003 recall election, when he won 32 percent of that community's vote. That accomplishment was magnified by the fact that his main Democratic opponent was Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who is Hispanic.
Today, polls indicate that Schwarzenegger's support among Hispanic voters is much lower as he seeks re-election. A recent survey by San Jose State University found 58 percent supported his Democratic rival, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, while just 12 percent supported the governor.
Schwarzenegger's support among Hispanics is likely higher than that, although still below his 2003 levels. The Field Poll had it at 23 percent in April and the Public Policy Institute of California put it at 26 percent in May, which Schwarzenegger's campaign says is more in line with what they are seeing.
Schwarzenegger strategist Matthew Dowd said Hispanics are a key part of the coalition the governor needs to win re-election. Dowd said the governor will recover the support he had among Hispanics in the recall on the basis of the same issues that appeal to other voters: education and the strong economy.
Minutemen Project
This week, Schwarzenegger began courting Hispanics with a show of support at a Mexican restaurant in Lynwood, south of Los Angeles. But even there, he stepped on his own message by repeating his support for the Minutemen, a volunteer militia that has patrolled the Arizona border with Mexico, infuriating many Hispanic leaders.
The governor's slide in support among Hispanics has been tied in part to his support for the group a year ago on a Los Angeles talk radio station. It was widely repeated in the Spanish-language media, and Schwarzenegger advisers say they have had trouble getting beyond it to draw attention to what else he has done to improve the lives of Hispanics.
Angelides uses the Minutemen comment at every opportunity to undermine the governor's support among Hispanics. And the remark is expected to figure prominently in Angelides' efforts to target Hispanics in the fall campaign.
But in this working class neighborhood, where many residents own modest homes, rely on the public school system and are beginning to send a first generation of children to college, voters often did not remember the Minutemen episode.
They were focused almost singly on education and blamed the governor for cutting money to schools, repeating the arguments of the California Teachers Association. The union lashed out at him last year after he reneged on a promise to pay public schools money they temporarily gave up to help with the state budget deficit. Although the governor has since restored the money, almost no one interviewed gave him credit for doing it.
Instead, they said Schwarzenegger could not be counted on to support education, which is typically the top issue for Hispanic voters, followed closely by health care.
Gonzales, the nurse, said the governor's decision to repay schools this year was "just a trick he has up his sleeve, so he can get the voters to vote for him, especially the Spanish population."
Turning point
Hispanics make up just 14 percent of the California electorate, but they are important because they are the fastest growing group and in recent years have tipped elections toward Democrats. While white voters have more or less split their support between the two major parties, Hispanics have voted overwhelmingly Democratic.
This year, however, things could be different. The San Jose State poll showed Schwarzenegger, a moderate Republican, with a big lead among white voters, who comprise about 74 percent of the electorate. He had 52 percent to Angelides' 32 percent.
If that holds up, it will be a departure from what has happened in the last two governor's races, when conservative Republicans only won half or slightly less of the white vote and lost as the overwhelming number Hispanics sided with the Democrat. |
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