In a less diverse Republican presidential field, Ted Cruz, the make-good son of a Cuban immigrant, would be viewed more for what he is – a candidate with a legitimate shot at making U.S. history as the nation’s first Latino president in 2016.
Instead, the senator from Texas finds himself in a strange position as he sees himself eclipsed both by Senator Marco Rubio, also a Cuban-American, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a fluent Spanish-speaker married to a Mexican-American, as early favorites among Hispanic Republicans who could play an increasingly influential role in the nomination process.
To Latinos, Cruz often feels more like an afterthought. And while that’s largely attributed to his hard-right stance on immigration reform, prominent Hispanic conservatives offered insight as to why his problems with Latinos run deeper. Rubio, they said, has embraced his ethnic identity in a way that Cruz, who speaks little Spanish, has not or will not.
What they’re essentially saying is that the field’s diversity makes it difficult for Cruz to be a token, which is the Democrats’ approach to such things.
All of that “blah, blah” about the embrace of his identity and Spanish speaking skills is only brought up because he is a Republican. The two Latino golden boys of the Democratic party at the moment are Julián and Joaquín Castro are still at the “¿Dónde está el baño por favor?” stage of their Spanish learning development. If that’s the litmus test, I’d be the ranking Latino if the three of us were hanging out. Also, if either Cruz or Rubio make it onto the GOP ticket, Joaquín Castro will almost certainly be given the Veep slot on the Democrat ticket because of the aforementioned leftist tokenism when it comes to race and ethnicity.
Cruz embraces being an American, and we all know how that irritates leftists.
The relative age and ethnic diversity differences between the two parties are so glaring that the MSM can’t avoid the subject, which they have tried to do until now. Expect a lot more “Well he’s not really this…” nonsense from them in the coming months.
All the Republicans have to do to counter it is respond that the anointed Democrat front runner is really rich, really old and really white.
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