Beyond Chron has a great short piece questioning the conventional wisdom of the Washington Post. Back in February of this year, the Washington Post was telling us that John McCain would put the brakes on a Latino political revolt away from the Republican party. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Three quarters of the Latino vote went to the Democrats in the primaries, and right now 69% of Latinos are going for the blue team.
I know that Latinos are being mobilized in solidly blue states to go assist the Democrats in turning out the Latino vote in the battleground states in the west such as NM, CO, and NV. So any notion that John McCain would be attracting the Latino vote away from the Democrats during this election cycle has proven to be a bust, especially after he has changed positions with the wind regarding immigration and now regulating the markets.
I hope that more Latinos will start obtaining information about politics and the economy from different sources. We know what is happening in our communities, but the national media narrative often does not adequately present our points of view. This means that we need to be more proactive about where we get our information and start educating our peers about news and opinion sources beyond the traditional networks and newspapers. I have a blogroll on this site to direct my readers to other resources. So please do keep your eyes open, and feel free to alert me via comments about stories that are worth noting.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Tina // Sep 23, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Governor Bill Richardson came to Pueblo, Co during the Annual Chile and Frijole Fest in downtown Pueblo. I was surprised that there was not much notice given that the Governor would be right down the street. Pueblo is heavily populated with native Hispanics and has had a large democratic support in the past. I was sad that I missed most of the speech because I did not find out about it until that afternoon! I know the McCain campaign is using the immigration issues to drum up support within the hispanic community and former CO Senator Larry Trujillo is now rallying the hispanic votes in Pueblo to vote for McCain. I support a bigger effort to reach out to Hispanics to look at other sources of media to seek out more information about the Obama/Biden campaign
2 Michaelr // Sep 23, 2008 at 8:51 pm
The journalistic integrity that used to accompany Network Television News broadcasters like Edward R Murrow and Walter Cronkite has given way to the narrowing of multiple social viewpoints, overt nationalism, and celebrity. If Edward R. Murrow had lived to witness the implementation of the Patriot Act and the NSA wiretapping, and then read the 2004 study of television media concentration, the media shit storm he had raised with Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s would easily pale in comparison. Network Television media today is more interested in entertaining, than informing the American public. Those of us who have turned to newsprint to gather our media information have always had the distinct advantage of being able to absorb the content of the information and apply it to our current social and personal status. Today, even the New York Times, once the newsprint standard has dumbed down their information content to compete with other new media. I wonder how the “Pentagon Papers” would read today. All this smells like George Orwell’s “1984.” The truth now is hidden inside of phases, side remarks, and facial gestures. And that’s why Blogging, and reading Blogs gives you a completely different visual from the street upward. The Federal Government eventually will try and censor Blogging. They have already attempted to demonize various forms of dissent as something unpatriotic. They have forgotten that dissent preceded the American Revolution in 1776. Always beware of the man who says my country right or wrong. Because it’s usually that man who is sending your son to die in Iraq, so Mobil-Exxon, Halliburton, and his associates can make record profits.
3 jammer // Sep 24, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I often wonder when I see/hear Latino and Black commentators on TV or Radio supporting the Republican position about their own sense of being. In the first place you know that they have to feel as if they are betraying their own communities and their own sense of identity. And try as they might to blend in with their anglo collegues they are still referred to as “our latino or african-american reporters or consultants” not as a reporter or consultant. I can’t take people in the media seriously when they sell their soul and community out so easily. More then ever we have to take our news from mainstream media much more cautiously and a healthy dose of skepticism. I am so tired of spin…, can anyone just give me the news?
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