Panel: Latinos Will Form Swing Vote

The force of the Latino vote was the highlight of discussion at the Kennedy School of Government's (KSG) ARCO Forum last night, where a panel of speakers addressed "The Latino Vote and Election 2000."

"The Latinos will be the key swing voters in the 2000 election," said Alan K. Simpson, director of the Institute of Politics, at the start of the event.

This view of Latinos as the "soccer Moms" of 2000 was echoed by the other panelists: Ruben Navarrette Jr. '90, Judy Chapa, Andy Hernandez, and Robert DePosada. Jesus Mena Jr., KSG's director of communications, served as the event's moderator.

"Demography is political destiny in this country," said Hernandez, former director of the Hispanic Outreach Democratic National Committee. "Projected growth of the Latino population has profound implications over the next quarter century."

Hernandez presented numerous statistics to illustrate his claim.

"Over the last 20 years Latino voter registration has increased 160 percent, while voter registration for the nation has risen only 30 percent," he said.

Hernandez said he was confident that Latinos would continue to rally behind the Democratic Party, as many have in the past.

However, other panelists were quick to align Latino views with the Republican Party's ideology.

Judy Chapa, director of Hispanic affairs for the Republican National Committee, recounted that often when she speaks to groups of Latina women, one will approach her afterwards and say, "Maybe I am Republican and I just don't know it."

DePosada accused the Democratic Party of raising the "flag of racism" to try to prevent Republicans from moving in on Latino voters.

Navarrette agreed with Chapa and DePosada, arguing that the majority of Latinos hold conservative views, including traditional family values and an opposition to abortion.

He cautioned the Democratic Party not to take Latino voters for granted.

"They're cafeteria voters. They pick and choose what they like," he said.

Navarrette, a student at the Kennedy School and a former Crimson editor, urged candidates to focus on education, the economy and crime, which he termed "mainstream issues" and away from "hot button" Latino issues like immigration, affirmative action, and bilingualism.

"If you build your house on these issues," he said, "your house will probably crumble."

Reflecting after the forum on his years at the College, Navarrette--author of A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano--said he was proud of the symbolic significance of the evening's panel.

"I can't imagine a panel like this taking place [while I was at the College]," Navarrette said. "It's crucial that it's taking place now."

Some members of the audience strongly disagreed with the arrangement of the panel. Sara Hamlen, a student at KSG, was disgruntled with the weighting of the panel for Republican supporters.

"I think Republicans know they have to play catch-up. The damage [former California governor] Pete Wilson did is abundantly clear," she said.

Across the board, the panelists plugged more active Latino involvement in political processes.

Chapa, who described herself "as one of those outgoing types who talks with her hands a lot," said that "we need to look at the fact that we should have more Latinos running for office."

Jose Lopez, a student at Harvard's Extension School, said he agreed with Chapa.

"Latinos as a whole should go out and run for political positions in greater numbers than they are right now, instead of just concentrating on the vote," he said.