Actress, U.S. rep say Latinos can swing election
Jason Hawk | The Chronicle-Telegram
SHEFFIELD TWP. — Local Puerto Rican voters hold the power to decide the 2008 presidential election.
That was New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez’s message Saturday morning as she rallied about 40 local Democratic leaders and party organizers at Laborers Local 758 AFL-CIO on North Ridge Road.
“This is the moment. We need you,” she told the mostly Hispanic audience. “It happens that (you) are on the electoral map for the first time. … You can tip the balance of power.”
Velazquez is the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress.
Like many of the other political campaigners stumping across the state, she recognized Ohio with its 20 Electoral College votes as a key battleground in the presidential campaign.
No Republican has ever won the White House without carrying Ohio.
But Velazquez wasn’t there to speak for Republican candidate John McCain.
The congresswoman, who visited Lorain in March on behalf of then-candidate Hillary Clinton, has thrown her support and energy behind Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
She wasn’t alone.
By her side was Academy Award-nominated actress Rosie Perez, who starred in “Fearless,” “White Men Can’t Jump” and “Do the Right Thing.”
Perez, an activist for 25 years, told the local Democrats to open their doors to people of opposing political views, show them respect and talk about the issues.
“Don’t tell them what they believe isn’t right,” she said in her thick native Brooklyn accent. “Tell them there’s another way to believe. Tell them the way things are isn’t working.”
Perez said she was headed from Lorain to Columbus on a tour promoting Obama, and from Ohio was heading to Pennsylvania and Florida.
She said people shouldn’t think of her as the actress who visited Lorain — she said she is just a passionate person who fights for causes wherever she is needed.
Together, Perez and Velazquez advocated better funding for education, creating more jobs and providing health insurance for the more than 45 million Americans who don’t currently have coverage — a third of whom are Latinos and about 10 million of whom are children.
“You’ve got the power, my friends, because here in Lorain we’ve got the numbers,” Velazquez said. “If you feel the people in Washington are out of touch, you need to send a clear message.”
Both the congresswoman and Lorain Council President Joel Arredondo delivered speeches in Spanish, earning applause and stirring people from their seats.
Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko also endorsed Obama — and asked the audience to support change on a more local level.
He urged residents to vote for Issue 20, the license plate fee increase intended to fund repairs to city roads.
Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Jason Hawk | The Chronicle-Telegram October 5th, 2008 in Top Stories. Popularity: 1% |
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Comments
Comment from
THHiggie
October 5, 2008, 5:56 am
Even though we are a multi-lingual family, and one of us was born in a Spanish-speaking country, I cannot understand why the United States government conducts any business, including voting, social security etc., in any language other than English. No other country on earth provides such services to its immigrants, legal or otherwise.
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