Little else brings me as much joy as learning a new word — especially if it perfectly captures the spirit of the moment. “Hispandering” — isn’t that great? It means, as you may have guessed, political pandering to Hispanics.
I discovered this gem in a delightful blog post on politic365.com. The article illuminated the disappointment some of the more serious Hispanic voters and community leaders feel about President Obama enlisting the likes of George Lopez and Eva Longoria to help spread the message among Latinos for his re-election effort. I feel disgust. That Obama thinks a comedian who has been slammed by Hispanics in the past for his sexist and stereotypical humor and a “Desperate Housewives” star who is currently under fire for co-producing a television show called “Devious Maids” are appropriate conduits to Hispanic voters pretty much says it all.
But this is the crux of presidential-candidate Hispandering: Never mind policy; trot out some Hispanic stars, drop a few words en español and do everything but don a golden-threaded mariachi sombrero while promising “el mundo.” Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have a fundamental misunderstanding of what most Hispanic voters want from them. Hispanics’ political views are as dramatically varied as those of white voters. This is not to say that there isn’t a vocal minority of Hispanic voters who adore Hispandering. They absolutely want candidates who preach to the choir — be it about “Latino empowerment” or immigration — and do it while invoking civil-rights heroes Cesar Chavez or Dolores Huerta. These are the very people falling all over themselves because the Obama campaign just kicked off his “Latinos for Obama” website with a few Spanish campaign ads.
But Obama isn’t the only Hispanderer. Though the president does have about six years worth of Hispanic Heritage Month photo-ops under his belt, Mitt Romney is getting into the spirit, as well. The Republican National Committee has begun fanning out into key swing states to spread the word about how the “GOP is listening to Latinos” as they shape a “new direction” for America. Maybe they’ll even put out some aimed-at-Hispanics campaign ads in English, instead of assuming that if they weren’t in Spanish the bulk of registered Hispanic voters wouldn’t understand them.