Heller may find it hard to garner needed Latino vote
Sen. Dean Heller is getting shellacked as insensitive for recently referring to Hispanics as "these people" during an Oct. 11 debate with opponent Shelley Berkley.
Although Heller's campaign assures skeptics the senator meant nothing condescending by it, not surprisingly Berkley's fellow Democrats pounced.
State Sen. Ruben Kihuen called Heller "out of touch" with the Latino community and his remark "disrespectful." And Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois asserted, "Dean Heller has consistently fought against legislation to restore legality and integrity to our immigration system, treat immigrants fairly, and ensure that they are integrated into the fabric of our society."
That's a lot of offense to take from a sentence fragment.
But it helps illustrate how important the Latino vote - which makes up about 14 percent of the electorate in the state - is to Berkley's chances of defeating Heller.
Every sharp elbow and crisp retort counts, especially with word circulating that Heller has received approximately $1 million in third-party contributions to Spanish-language media. It might take that much to make Latinos forget Heller opposes the DREAM Act as written and has occasionally lapsed into the kind of right-wing rhetoric that now makes Republican Party officials nationally cringe. Along the campaign trail, Heller has talked tough about defending the border, ending birthright citizenship, declaring English the official language and opposing amnesty.
Insensitive or not, Heller is doing better than average with Latino voters, according to recent polls. While the Review-Journal/8NewsNow poll conducted by SurveyUSA astonishingly had Heller slightly ahead of Berkley with Latinos, 43 percent to 41 percent, a survey conducted by Latinos Decisions favored Berkley, 58 percent to 26 percent.
Compare that to President Barack Obama's 78-percent rating with Nevada Latinos, and the argument can be made that Berkley can gain ground with the much-courted voter demographic.
During a recent Review-Journal editorial board, Heller answered a question about his Latino community support this way: "I don't have access to that kind of information in our own data, but I will tell you this: No campaign in the history of this state has spent more time and energy and money in the Latino community than this campaign. I have Hispanics coming up to me all the time saying we really appreciate your wife's ad. I think that has connected with the community. I've met with the pastors. I've met with their religious leaders. We have some issue with the (Latin) Chamber, but Hispanics in Politics and other members of the chamber come to my office, and we meet and we have discussions."
If that sounds less than deeply connected to the community, consider this: Not even local public appearances by notable Latino Republican politicians Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico drew big crowds at recent local events. And that should be embarrassing someone inside Republican headquarters in Nevada.
I had the pleasure of watching Martinez and Rubio in action in Tampa, Fla., at the Republican National Convention. They are rising Republican stars not simply because they are Latino, but more importantly because they are proven winners and dynamic public speakers with remarkable life stories.
What happened when they came to Las Vegas to lend their support to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and the rest of the GOP ticket?
Their events were poorly attended and stuffed with party shills and staffers.
Republican campaign operatives probably will write off such observations as anecdotal and not indicative of genuine problems inside the party's Latino outreach in the state. Perhaps throwing seven figures at the problem and blanketing the airwaves with negative political ads will carry Romney, Heller, and the rest of the Republican parade on Election Day.
It certainly hasn't slowed Heller's endorsements. Just this past weekend he received glowing editorials heralding his candidacy from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Reno Gazette-Journal.
Berkley, meanwhile, received the endorsement of El Mundo, the state's largest Spanish-language newspaper.
Will a victory in the Senate race be accented in Spanish?
John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Smith
