Welcome to the Monday edition of your open thread. Less than a week until the Restore Sanity/Keep Fear Alive rally in DC! Plus, only 8 more days until the election commercials go away! I can’t wait for that!
This is good. The “Don’t Vote” ad aimed at Latinos in Nevada is backfiring.
Those ads by a right-wing front group called “Latinos for Reform” — urging Latinos no to vote for Democrats in the coming election because they haven’t delivered on comprehensive immigration reform — may not be turning out to be such a hot idea:
But the fever-pitch backlash to this advertisement suggests the message could bring about just the opposite effect, by energizing a Hispanic voting bloc that may have been lethargic with a new and compelling reason to get out and vote — by and large, for Democrats.
From the 2004 to 2008 elections, Hispanics grew in force from 8 percent of the electorate to 12 to 15 percent, depending on the exit poll — roughly equal to President Barack Obama’s margin of victory. Obama carried 76 percent of the Nevada Hispanic vote in 2008.
Electorate growth rates among Hispanics have slowed since. But what hasn’t is their overwhelming enthusiasm for Democrats.
“Hispanics are much more likely to view congressional Democrats favorably than other groups,” said John Tuman, chairman of UNLV’s political science department who also teaches in the Latin American studies department. According to a recent study by UNLV and the Brookings Mountain West think tank, “it’s only among Hispanics in any Mountain West state that you see Democrats having an overall net favorability ranking,” Tuman said.
Yeah, campaigns that smack of overt minority voter-suppression efforts — particularly since the self-serving hypocrisy of these ads (“Punish Democrats because they haven’t been effective in overcoming our longstanding efforts to kill immigration reform”) is so transparent — tend not to go over so well with minority voters.
The story of actor Randy Quaid and his wife Evi keeps getting stranger and stranger. They were arrested in Canada and have asked for asylum because their lives are in danger:
The American couple were arrested in Vancouver last week on US arrest warrants related to allegations that they vandalised their former home in Santa Barbara, California.
However, when they were brought before an immigration hearing on Friday, the pair said they wanted to stay in Canada because they believe their “lives are in danger”.
They warned they are at risk from “Hollywood star whackers”, who they claim are responsible for the recent deaths of several of Mr Quaid’s actor friends, including Heath Ledger and David Carradine.
“We feel our lives are in danger,” Mrs Quaid told the Immigration and Refugee Board hearing.
“Randy has known eight close friends murdered in odd, strange manners. We feel that we’re next.”
I don’t know much on this back story but I just hope Mr. and Mrs. Quaid can get the help they need.