This year's presidential election pits incumbent Skull and Bonesman George W. Bush against challenger Skull and Bonesman John Forbes Kerry.
Each candidate is eager to tell you how different he is from his opponent.
But on many issues, the differences are meaningless.
Bush and Kerry share indistinguishable platforms on the National Question. They both support mass immigration, linguistic Balkanization, multiculturalism and racial preferences. They both encourage illegal immigration and pander shamelessly.
Both have pulled out the all the stops to attract the coveted Hispanic vote.
The $64,000 Question is, however, "Do Hispanic Americans have different interests than other Americans?"
If the answer is NO, then what's the big deal? Just treat Hispanics like everybody else.
If the answer is YES, then somebody needs to explain what these differences are. Because, just maybe, America's non-Hispanic majority should still have some say in the nation's future.
But you wouldn't be alerted to that question from all the hoopla Bush and Kerry have created over the "Hispanic Vote," would you?
The growing use of Spanish in election campaigning is a sure sign of America's Balkanization. (Read my description of bilingual doubletalk in the 2002 Texas gubernatorial campaign.)
A common language is essential for society to function. We shouldn't be ready to discard it so carelessly.
But the Skull and Bones candidates see it differently. They 're using Spanish to woo Hispanic voters while ignoring the need that all American citizens should speak and understand English.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign just announced the "Largest Hispanic Ad Buy in Presidential Campaign History". This million-dollar PR purchase includes radio, TV and print ads, and a 30-second advertising spot titled "Honor".
"Honor" includes John Kerry informing us (in Spanish) that he approved this ad, and John Kerry shouting "Si Se Puede!" [Watch]
The ad attempts to connect Latino voters with John Kerry, "…a man of faith, a man of family. A man of honor."
Kerry's Catholic faith is highlighted. But neither his support for abortion on demand nor his position that homosexuality is not a sin is mentioned even though it puts him at odds with Catholic doctrine.
Kerry's family is mentioned—but not his earlier divorce.
By promising to "reform our immigration laws" (political code speech for "amnesty"), Kerry feeds red meat to the Hispanic Open Borders Lobby.
Remember that one of Kerry's campaign chairs is unrepentant MEChistA Antonio Villaraigosa.
The Bush-Cheney camp, not to be outdone, produced the Spanish- language advertisement "Caos" [Listen here in MP3 format.] [Vdare.com note: Caos is Spanish for "chaos", a translation of Kerry's claim that the campaign was "wreaking havoc" with his schedule.]
"Caos" bashes Kerry for missing the majority of his Senate votes. It does point out, however, that the Massachusetts senator voted against the Laci Peterson law, against parental notification for teen abortions, but for birth control distribution in public schools. These, "Caos" tells us, are Kerry's priorities. Then, the ad asks, "Are they yours?"
Bilingual politicking opens a new and distasteful can of worms. The end result will be a fractious, balkanized society that invites even more government control. These Bush spots, also presuming that Hispanic voters are deeply orthodox Catholics do not help.
If I had my druthers, all campaign material in languages other than English would be banned.
Both Bush and Kerry, in different ways, are appealing to the famed Hispanic "Family Values." Kerry plays the Catholic card; Bush plays the pro-life card. But neither is likely to win a significant amount of Hispanic voters.
"Catholic Mexico" is one of those old stereotypes that die hard. In fact, most Mexicans are not active Catholics. Abortion, prohibited by law but widely practiced, is not a big political issue in Mexico.
Mexican politics is much more secular than American politics. References to God and faith are rare. One candidate was almost fined for saying "Thank God." The Fox Administration tried to prevent all teens under 18 from viewing "The Passion of the Christ"
Mexican immigrants are unlikely to jump on the Republican Social Conservative bandwagon. Nor are they likely to care whether or not John Kerry is Catholic.
As VDARE.COM's own Edwin Rubenstein has pointed out, American Hispanics have "family values" problems—but not the ones Bush and Kerry are campaigning on. Mexican Americans have higher rates of illegitimacy, teen pregnancy, abortion and HIV death rates than whites.
After all is said and done, the truth the GOP ignores is that most Hispanics vote Democrat because they believe the Democratic Party is more helpful to them. Since the Democratic Party favors Big Government more than the GOP (but frankly, not much), it remains more attractive to the majority of Hispanic voters. That's not likely to change in the near future.
Therefore, however much the GOP panders to Hispanics, the Democrats can always out-do them. If the Republicans totally lose their principles (which seems to have happened), it risks losing its conservative base.
And as for conservative Hispanics, what does Bush have to offer them? Well, about as much as he has to offer to "Non-Hispanic Whites", i.e., very little.
For four years, Bush has pandered to Hispanics by groveling before Mexican President Vicente Fox. Despite being the nation's chief law enforcement officer, Bush has constantly excused, justified and enabled illegal immigration—all for the anticipated goal of getting the "Hispanic vote."
But despite it all, a recent Gallup poll announced that "Bush Loses Support Among Hispanics." (David W. Moore, July 6th, 2004).
These results show where the candidates stand among Blacks, Hispanics, and "Non-Hispanic Whites,"–(that negative term used to refer to the American Majority population.) These results show Kerry beating Bush by 19 points among Hispanics. Meanwhile, Bush only leads Kerry by 12 points among Whites.
Yes, Bush and Kerry are both shameless panderers.
At least Kerry has something to show for it. We might call his pandering "Profitable Pandering".
Unlike Kerry, what does Bush have to show for it? He can't win over the majority of Hispanics, and is in danger of losing his base. Perhaps they might not vote.
Could it be time for Bush to switch to the "Sailer Strategy"?
American citizen Allan Wall lives and works legally in Mexico, where he holds an FM-2 residency and work permit, but serves six weeks a year with the Texas Army National Guard, in a unit composed almost entirely of Americans of Mexican ancestry. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his FRONTPAGEMAG.COM articles are archived here; his website is here. Readers can contact Allan Wall at [email protected].
