Obama Campaign Responds To Immigration Reform Survey While McCain Campaign Remains Silent
Put forth on August 6, 2008 by XicanoPwr
Posted in Elections, Elections 2008, Immigration, The Sanctuary, YouTube
Now that Tropical Storm Edouard has come and gone, it’s time to get back to our regular scheduled program. In my two day tropical storm hiatus, a lot has happen on the immigration front.
The deadline has come and gone for the US presidential candidates to respond to a questionnaire put together by The Sanctuary, a web base grassroots community of pro-migrant, human rights, and civil-rights bloggers and online activists dedicated to the enactment of meaningful immigration reform.
We have had our fair share of critics who questioned us and asked who did we we think we were to make such a lofty demand and who did we represent and why should we expect the presidential candidates to answer our questions.
But make no mistake to the impact online have on politics in general. As Marisa Treviño noted, in light of the $20 million the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign are spending to outreach Latino/a voters, “the questionnaire was a bargain.”
The real question is who is to say that our perspective, as individuals is not valid enough to be considered relevant when we speak on political issues. In the recent Blogosphere Influence Rating done by BlogNetNews, a place for people to find the best news and political blogs from across the political spectrum, I am ranked 12th among both liberal and conservative blogs that are influencing the direction of the Texas political blogosphere.
Just recently, I received an email from a read who wanted to share with me that my blog inspired them to become a blogger. In another email, another reader felt that I am “among the few ‘best’ that [they] constantly refer to and share with others.”
There is no doubt that the Netroots phenomenon is still in its infancy. However, it is obvious the Netroots is not limited to general electoral politics; it also incorporates other issues that influence this country. The big picture, I and the other founding members of “The Sanctuary” are part of a complex Internet community called the Netroots where the function is really not the sum of the parts but much bigger.
It is also obvious that the Obama campaign understands this because his campaign has fulfilled their promise and filled out our questionnaire. However, the McCain campaign, aside from the Spanish-language ads, and his trip to Mexico and South America, has yet to fill out our questionnaire.
If Obama were to win this fall, the roots of that victory may not solely come from online activists and pundits; however, we did play a part.
Update: Kety Esquivel of CrossLeft.org and of The Sanctuary was on XM’s P.O.T.U.S. ‘08 to discuss the questionnaire, the response from Obama, the lack of response from McCain and her perspective as a progressive Christian.
Earlier today - Friday, 8/8/08 - Kety appeared on CNN to discuss the questionnaire, the response from Obama and the lack of response from the McCain campaign.
From our press release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 4, 2008OBAMA CAMPAIGN RESPONDS TO SURVEY ON IMMIGRATION REFORM/PUBLIC POLICY, MCCAIN CAMPAIGN SILENTThe Sanctuary responds to Obama’s Co-operation and McCain’s Silence
NEW YORK, NY – The Obama campaign has responded to The Sanctuary’s comprehensive survey on Latino issues. The McCain Campaign has remained silent.
In June, the editors of The Sanctuary (http://promigrant.org) sent both campaigns a survey on Latino issues (http://promigrant.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=276). Since both candidates have been courting the Latino vote, the editors of The Sanctuary wanted the candidates to speak openly and honestly about their positions.
“We were tired of seeing the candidates tip-toe around the issues and merely pay lip service. So we created this questionnaire posing specific policy questions for the candidates to answer,” said Sanctuary editor Edmundo Rocha of www.xicanopwr.com.
By the July 31st deadline, only the Obama campaign had responded to the survey. The Sanctuary conducted extra follow-up with McCain’s campaign headquarters via e-mail and telephone to investigate their failure to meet the deadline.
“The first phone call I placed was answered cordially. I was told that someone would get back to me. I never heard back from anyone,” said Sanctuary editor Kety Esquivel of www.CrossLeft.org, who has appeared on CNN to discuss the questionnaire (http://www.youtube.com/v/slhXs-06Zvk&hl=en&fs=1). “The second time I called, the person I was speaking with hung up and the third time I called the line was disconnected.”
“It is clear to me that the McCain campaign is not interested in speaking to the issues,” said Sanctuary editor Maegan Ortiz of www.VivirLatino.com. “We believe that they owe it not only to us to respond to the questionnaire, but to their base.”
The Sanctuary has stated that it will give the McCain campaign until midnight, August 6, to respond to the survey.
“If they don’t respond at that point, we can only surmise that they do not take the Latino community seriously and are truly delivering nothing more than political pandering to get the Latino vote,” said Sanctuary editor Manuel Guzmán of www.LatinoPolitico.com.
At a time when our communities are under siege with unduly harsh immigration enforcement measures, our young people are dropping out of high school and getting pregnant at higher rates, the schools that predominantly service our children are in a state of decline, healthcare is out of financial reach and racial profiling across the country is at its worst, the writers of the Sanctuary, along with the rest of the Latino community, deserve more than empty political promises or being ignored by a campaign that says it wants the Latino vote but doesn’t want to give them the time of day.
The Sanctuary is a grassroots effort of pro-migrant, human rights, civil rights bloggers and on-line activists dedicated to the enactment of meaningful immigration reform that is practical, fair and most of all humane. (http://promigrant.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=71)
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This is the blog of Edmundo "XicanoPwr" Rocha, a social worker, an activist, freelance writer and founder and editor of The Sanctuary. My interests include: immigration reform, critical race theory and it's interaction with equality/inequality and freedom/oppression as they relate to the experiences of people of color in the Americas.
Para Justicia y Libertad is a Latino-centered political blog focusing on the humanistic perspective of politics, history, and society as they relate to the Latina/o community throughout Texas and the United States.
9 Responses to “Obama Campaign Responds To Immigration Reform Survey While McCain Campaign Remains Silent”
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XP, Congratulations on being among the top 20 in Texas. It is an honor you certainly deserve, and from here you can only go up
Marisa Treviño
right on hermano! bout time they notice who’s on tha scene. keep rockin la verdad.
Thank you
Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30, I celebrate my independence day and on July 4, I celebrate America’s. This year is special because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.
On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba, and a few months later I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.
I’ve thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about my native Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950’s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, and they were
right. So when a young leader came along talking about change, every Cuban was at least very receptive.
When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press in Cuba and even the USA fell in love with him. They never questioned who
his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone believed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said ‘Praise the Lord’ finally. And when the young charismatic leader said, ‘I will be for change and I will be the arbiter of that change, everyone yelled, ‘Viva Fidel!’
But everyone was so excited about the change, nobody bothered to ask about the details of the change. Well, by the time the executioner’s guns fell silent and the people’s own guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the
time everyone received their free education it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented Cuba had been knocked
down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was done way more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes, risking sharks or drowning to escape the change. You can call those who made it ashore with us to Florida or anywhere else in the world, the most fortunate Cubans. And now I am getting a very familiar feeling that goes back to the beginning of my story.
But, we would never fall for that in America. We wouldn’t put a young leader in charge of this great country who promised
change without asking: What change? How will you carry it out?
What will it cost America? Would we?
Manuel Alvarez, Jr.
Very much an eye opener considering no one really knows what Obama is going to do to our nation with all the hope and change BS. The man can not be trusted and his true self will be exposed before November.
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