Guest Column
Activist Tries to Draw Hispanics into GOP Fold
- The Politico
March 6, 2007
Going strictly by the numbers, Bettina Inclan sure seems to be climbing up a steep hill. The executive director of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly says her fellow Hispanics are a GOP voting bloc -- even though only 29 percent of Hispanics who voted went for the GOP in 2006, 15 percent less than in 2004
"There was a little slump," she said. "The drop is just a general overall of what you saw in the country of people: dissatisfied. And immigration played no helping role in getting us more people to the polls for the GOP. People were frustrated with the rhetoric of immigration that was coming out.
Inclan is just one of dozens of party insiders on both sides of the aisle who have spent the past few years trying to find out what mix of issues and messages appeals to the fast-growing Hispanic electorate. The 27-year-old woman of Mexican and Cuban ancestry is well positioned to reach her fellow Hispanics, who she says are a religious, family-oriented group of social and fiscal conservatives
"Most Hispanics have been raised with a strong devotion to faith, family and duty," she said. "The combination of these three really speaks to the core of the Hispanic community and is intertwined together in our daily lives. Most Hispanics consider themselves 'conservatives' because of the way we were raised.
Inclan grew up in Florida. Her father is a Mexican-American who drives buses and works as a carpenter, and her mother is a Cuban-American motivational speaker. Her grandfather spent 14 years as a political prisoner in Cuba because he refused to support Fidel Castro's revolution. This experience solidified his anti-Communist and pro-Republican outlook on life, one that has helped shape Inclan's politics
She bemoans the lack of political activity among her fellow Hispanics generally, regardless of their ideological persuasion. The group represents nearly 15 percent of the total U.S. population with a median age of 25, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, yet it comprised only 8.6 percent of the electorate in the 2006 elections
"We're a young demographic with no solidified party loyalty," she said
So she and the RNHA are working to win that loyalty. The group was founded in 1974 by the Republican National Committee as part of Richard Nixon's campaign. Nixon especially sought to court Hispanics, creating, for example, the Hispanic Employment Program to ensure that Hispanics have equal access to federal jobs. After some moderate success, the RNHA split from the RNC along with the College Republicans under a party restructuring to become a separate entity in 2001
Since Inclan came to RNHA in 2005 from the office of Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), she's focused on expanding grass-roots activity. Currently the group has a 47-state network of about 10,000 people. And half of them aren't Hispanic, she said. The group has attracted white political activists such as Bob Spindell, a leader of the assembly's Wisconsin chapter who saw the Hispanic population growing in his region and decided to get on board
"They're people who understand that if the GOP is going to survive as a group, they're realizing they have to reach into the Hispanic community," Inclan said. "It's not ethnic affiliation; it's they believe in the cause.
RNHA's San Diego chapter was particularly active in last summer's special election that helped Rep. Brian Bilbray win. "Our victory in CA-50 would not have been possible, and our winning coalition would not have been complete, without the support of local Hispanic Republicans," Rep. Thomas Reynolds (N.Y.) said in a letter to RNHA when he was chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. He congratulated the group for sending 1,000 letters to Hispanic households that urged residents to vote for Bilbray
Inclan has pumped up the assembly's visibility in Washington as well as outside, said Mario Lopez, executive director of the Congressional Hispanic Conference and an RNHA board member. Inclan raised her own visibility in 2005 when she was named a Catherine Zeta-Jones look-alike in The Hill's "50 Most Beautiful" issue
"She's doing a terrific job to help us deliver the Republican or conservative message," said Hessy Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee's Hispanic outreach team
Inclan declined to divulge RNHA's budget from last year. This year, she said she wants to raise a few million dollars from private donors for things such as direct mail, candidate training and citizenship classes
With the 2008 presidential elections already under way, Inclan is optimistic about the GOP's chances with Hispanics
"We're really confident in our message," Inclan said. "When you put them side by side, the parties and their values, we're confident (Hispanics) are in line with the Republicans. It's just going out there and doing the grass-roots work.
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Activist Tries
to Draw Hispanics into GOP Fold
By: Carrie Sheffield
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