“Why the Latino support for Hillary? Much of the Hispanic community casts votes quite traditional of immigrants. The memory of who has been good to them stretches back far and lives vividly in their minds. Bill Clinton’s unflinching support for NAFTA, jamming it through Congress despite his party’s opposition, and his prompt action in bailing out Mexico when the Tequila currency crisis of the 90s threatened their economic stability and sent unemployment soaring are all still likely very much in the minds of today’s Mexican-American voters. For Puerto Ricans, Bill Clinton’s pardon of the FALN terrorists, originally intended to win their votes for Hillary’s Senate race, are probably still important. And Dominicans probably still remember Bill’s commitment to saving Haiti by sending in American forces and stopping instability from overtaking the island the two countries share.” — Dick Morris, Bill Clinton’s former political advisor
I sincerely doubt that any of these are serious considerations for Latino voters. In fact, it would surprise me if any poll would show even an awareness of these issues among Latinos.
Dick Morris (who hates the Clintons with a passion) has basically just gone through his enormous list of supposed Clinton failings, and picked out the ones that have something to do with Latin America.
The Cuban community has plenty of Clinton memories as well. On the top of the list are Elian, inaction of the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, and the ridiculous “Wet foot/ Dry foot” policy.
LaurenceB,
I agree. These are definitely not primary concerns for the latinos that highly admire Clinton (though I wouldn’t put their affect at zero, just not significant).
If I had to guess I would say the admiration for Bill Clinton is much more simpler: Bill Clinton was a charismatic person and under his administration the economy did very, very well…you add those two things in with the fact that latinos, probably more so than the average person, credits an economies performance primarily to the president.
Add in the immigration bills Clinton pushed and you get the picture of a very smart, caring, immigrant friendly person.
daniel,
Good point.
LaurenceB, Daniel and HP,
I think you all have valid reasons for the fondness the Latino community may have for Bill Clinton. But I also believe, as I had commented on another HP post, that because there is no universal Latino leadership, in national elections Latinos will basically support any member of the DNP leadership, which obviously includes the Clintons.
As a Puerto Rican-American (that term is actually kind of redundant given that Puerto Rico is a U.S. colony), I don’t feel many boricuas thought that much of Bill Clinton pardoning a bunch of Puerto Rican independista terrorists. Although many Puerto Ricans on the mainland would like to someday see an independent Puerto Rico, whenever the island’s voters go to vote on the island’s status, it’s always a near tie between remaining a colony and becoming the 51st state, with only 1 or 2 percent of voters actually voting for independence. Releasing a bunch of FALN guerrillas who fought for a lost cause 30 years ago isn’t going to create an independent Puerto Rico anytime soon. I think Hillary’s request for a Presidential pardon of these FALN members exhibited a poor understanding of the Puerto Rican community or perhaps an underestimation of our collective intelligence.
People who like Bill Clinton should remember that Hill is not Bill. She is a good President by association, and not by any actual act executed by her. Funny, I didn’t know feminists were supposed to ride on the coat tails of the legacies of their powerful husbands.