This the kind of crap that sets my blood boiling.

Hispanics are not a monolithic group.

Cubans, Mexicans, Argentinians, Puerto Ricans, we all vote differently from each other.

Mexicans and Puerto Ricans heavily favor government handouts and tend to be more liberal.

Cubans and Argentians, on the other hand, are not so much in favor of governmenthandouts and tend to be more politically conservative.

So phoey on the "Hispanic Block" theory.

Ding! I would vote for McCain if he did this but not if he picked Huckabee. His pandering in SC about issues of which he knows nothing was just too amateur. Plus he's too Baptist for me:D

Dick Cheney seemed to have plenty, right down to selecting the cabinet for his boss....

McCain-Dole sounds good. They're about the same age.

Sorry Bob... LOL!

Blah...

moving on...

You asked a question....didn't like the answer?

Registering a little frustration. Like you said, no real legal power.

So my thinking is really should we care?

But then you're right also. We should. But who could have predicted that Cheney would have so much influence over W's decisions?

:D I think certain VPs and Lieutenant Gov's in certain states have tremendous 'floor power' among Senate Committees way beyond the tie break vote. Someone like Lieberman would wield a lot of influence in this manner--Edwards would not.

It doesn't matter. All they have to do is stick it out there, and then there is a Hispanic block. Why? Because it's on tv. The Clintons did it to pretty good effect in SC, trying to pigeon hole Obama as a fringe/supported only by a small group, and it got on tv. It doesn't even matter if news people say it's ridiculous to call Obama the black candidate because they have to say the words 'Black Candidate'. If people retain only 20% of what they see on tv, just repeat nonsense words enough and you make the connection.

The Hispanic vote will be the Hispanic votes whether the hispanics want it to be or not.

That was a good book. What surprised me the most was how slimy Jefferson and Hamilton were. I had that elementary school awe of those folks until that book.

I know some Mexican Americans who would disagree strongly about the Mexican Americans liking handouts.

I think maybe you have hoisted yourself on your own petard!

And I would be very interested in seeing a poll where it shows that Hispanics as a group (monolythic though they may not be) like Obama equally to Caucasians.

After all European Americans are hardly a monolythic group either.

Tom W

The fact that you may know a handful of Mexican-Americans who do not favor government handouts proves nothing, nada, zilch.

You have to look at the overall statistics. If you read the stats and look at the polling data you will find that Mexican-americans, all across the board (except perhaps for those who make large incomes) overwhelmingly favor big government spending and government handouts. Come to California and you will see

So Tom, I'll climb off the petard that you so gracioulsy offered...attach it to you...light the fuse and watch yourself blow up.

I don't get your second paragraph...not sure what you are asking for...so I can't reply to it.

I agree, there is no Euro-American block. But pollsters know enough to not group them all into one single group. Pollsters may talk about the Italian-American vote or the Irish-American vote. Pollster never talk about the White vote (except maybe in the South). So why are all Hispanics lumped into one single group.

We are not a single-minded, single-goal group. It is stupid for any candidate to claim the "Hispanic" vote while ignoring the differences among all Hispanics.

How is that ride on the petard feel tom?

I don't feel a thing.

You and I don't disagree except that you have not addressed the question of what polling numbers say about support for Obama among Hispanics.

While I sympathize with your frustration that folks lump Spanish speaking folks together, it is simply a way to poll and nothing that really means anything.

If someone says X% of whites believe (whatever) and I happen to not be in the majority, no reason for me to be upset.

Since I don't live in California I have no clue how it looks there. Here most of the Mexicans I see are extremely industrious and are respected for that characteristic.

Tom W

It looks nutty and fruity. Pretty much without a lick of sense as far as our elected leaders go. They only know how to spend and usually only with special interest groups.

Ha ha ha ha ha...

But, reading about other states, however, makes me wonder whether the symptoms that you described are limited to just California or whether the "disease" is now widespread.