A facebook friend of mine, who happens to also be a Latino activist, posted the following great analysis of recent political attempts to win him over:
It's fascinating how white Republicans seem to think Latinos are monolithic. Marco Rubio is Cuban and most Latinos simply don't identify with him. He isn't some sort of magical key to the Latino vote. Cubans are a slim minority of all Latinos in the United States. Most of us are Mexican. Many of us are also Salvadoran, Colombian, Peruvian, Chilean, Panamanian, Argentinian, etc. Not only is it geography, it is culture, food, language (the Spanish language is a far more diverse than English). We are straight, gay, European, Native American, African, Asian. Latinos make for a fascinating tapestry. It might do Republicans some good to recognize this reality.I was struck by the honesty and power of his post; as a woman I had been feeling exactly the same way. We are no longer just slightly more than half the country. We’ve become a commodity.
Already this summer, I’m observing cheesy, schmaltzy, one-size-fits-all attempts to court women voters. Many campaigns seem to reach from the same old tired bag of tricks every time they want to reach out to women:
• Make the website page look soft and feminine.
• Have a “Women For… (Insert candidate’s name here)” group.
• Talk about abortion to the exclusion of almost anything else.
• Show the candidate’s wife as often as possible.
• Hire perky, pretty college girls to sign up supporters using clipboards.
• Shoot photos around the dinner table (as if that’s the only place women hang out).
Snore. Flinch. Recoil. Why are they doing this?
Women make up 51% of the population of the United States. Women and Latino voters are the key demographics in the November general election, from the County Coroner to the President of the United States. As the lead organizer in Denver for Colorado’s grassroots “We Are Women” March and Rally on April 28th of this year (there were lead organizers in other cities and towns around the state, too), I’ve received a number of phone calls from candidates asking for my help in “getting women on board with our campaign”. Our two-thousand person Rally and March in CO was unique in that it was not sponsored by a non-profit or corporation, but entirely grassroots, was replicated at the same time on the same day in all fifty states around the nation, and entirely funded by the activists who participated. Campaigns have been chomping at the bit to get a piece of it, wanting to know if they can have my activist list, Google docs, and “secret words” (secret handshake?).
Here’s the secret. Start respecting women. And while you’re at it, start respecting everyone else, too.
At the federal level, any incumbent who voted against the Violence Against Women Act, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, or pissed off the Children’s Defense Fund, should hang up their campaign right now. Don’t even bother reading to the end of this page.
At the State level, any incumbent who voted in favor of limiting a woman’s right to make decisions about her own health care, or who voted to decrease school funding, or to limit resources to the poor, the elderly, children, and anyone else who is vulnerable, take a hike. Take it now.
What about targeted state level and higher candidates who are running for election for the first time? Here’s how voters should decide. (Listen up, women activist friends – I’m about to tell you.)
Go to the candidate’s website. If equality for all persons regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, age, marital status, religion, citizenship, health, original language, and country of birth (otherwise known as civil rights) are not clearly one of the top three marquis issues, close the website and walk away. Send your money and spend your volunteer time working for another candidate. If it’s up there, go to the next step.