Live Updates From The Democratic Univision Debate In Miami

The Huffington Post is live on the ground at the site of tonight's Univision debate in Miami, Fl. We'll be providing updates throughout the night:

-- 8:33 pm: Hilary has the best closing statement, more feeling and warmth and the most applause. And she got the last word!

-- 8:30 pm: Kucinich is the first one to bring in "Si se puede!!" Obama mentioned Luis Gutierrez again, the Latino congressman who's endorsed him.

-- 8:20 pm: The few seconds it takes for the candidates to listen to the translation is actually a great feature. It makes it appear as if they're are actually thinking about their answers!

-- 8:15 pm: Great Dodd line on Family Medical Leave Act. "It took me seven years, three presidents and vetoes to get it passed and we did it with the help of Donna Shalala." Big smile from Shalala, who as president of the University of Miami is sitting in the front row next to Haim Saban, the chairman of Univision.

-- 8:14 pm: During the second break, everyone stayed on stage and came forward to chat with members of the audience.

-- 8:05 pm: Kucinich just received the biggest applause of the night by calling for free college education! At the University of Miami filled with college kids, how could this fail?

-- 7:47 pm: Hosts Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas have a lot of authority and Jorge especially is doing a great job keeping on time. "Gracias, senor," he says. "Gracias senor." Hilary just took a good hit at the anti-Hispanic sentiments in the broadcast world -- but she did not name names!

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-- 7:43 pm: Obama looks down at his notes a lot when others are speaking. Hillary is always looking very attentively, hands crossed in front of her body, turned toward whoever is speaking, whether it's Obama who's on the right or Gravel on the left.

-- 7:40 pm: Interesting break!! Hillary and Edwards left the stage during the 2 minute break to be powdered beyond prying eyes. Obviously being powdered on TV is the last thing Edwards needs. Obama and the rest were proudly re-powdered in front of all of us! Elizabeth Edwards, who's been exchanging looks and hand signals with her husband, used the 2 minutes to walk around and shake hands.

-- 7:07 pm: Obama missed the excitement in the room. He launched right to the details of his community organizing. Hillary missed it too. This audience is psyched, there's a sense of history in the room, and their first responses fell very flat.

-- 7:04 pm: No clear crowd favorite tonight. When the candidates are introduced, some applaud for the, some don't, and when they do it's beyond half-hearted!

-- 6:58 pm: "Miami, we have a problem," said Jorge Ramos. The candidates at first did not get the translation in their ears. Dodd immediately showed off his Spanish.

-- 6:55 pm: Henry Cisneros calls tonight "historic." "While it may be the first, it sets the expectation for the future," he tells Huffington Post. "Candidates from now on will have to speak to the Hispanic community in their language, even though the language will be translated. " He also said that Richardson and Dodd have been asked not to speak in Spanish. "But I predict," he said, "that at some point they will break the rule."

Comments

[Dopeman]

Gore/Obama 08
Gore/Obama 12
Obama/Webb 16
Obama/Webb 20
Webb/...

[ceasenake]

Do the (only) Spanish speaking people in the USA understand the various issues?

The Latin American peoples all seem to have so much trouble running their own countries, I hope they can do better as they become voters here.

I remember the huge disaster last year when the "immigrant rights" protesters took to the streets by the millions, especially in LA.

That sort of stunt may impress down in the tropics, but as they learned - this years' rallys were tiny in comparison = tail between legs - all it did was piss off the rest of the country enough pressure the government to start building a wall and send ICE out to round some undocumented workers up.

[shockmagog]

"The Latin American peoples all seem to have so much trouble running their own countries, I hope they can do better as they become voters here."

Up here, we were happy to see them as safe little dictatorships--as long as they were "ours."

"I remember the huge disaster last year when the "immigrant rights" protesters took to the streets by the millions, especially in LA."

(disaster?) Where immigrants flooded the streets like a Katrina levee breach. The sun rose the next day and everybody went to work.

[KYJurisDoctor]

P-L-E-A-S-E, NO MORE debates for a looooooong while, P-L-E-A-S-E!

http://OsiSpeaks.com or http://OsiSpeaks.org

[CaptainVideo]

"Candidates from now on will have to speak to the Hispanic community in their language"

For those members of the Hispanic community who are U.S. citizens, English should be their language and Spanish merely a second language.

I am a U.S. citizen who was born in Germany. English is my language. German is a second language that I speak. Being able to speak more than one language is an asset. But there should never be a question of which is THE language of U.S.citizens.

[gakabani]

Vaya, Vaya, los payasos llegaron ya a Univision. Hablando estupideces creyendo que las masas hispánicas son tan ignorantes como las americanas.

Vaya, Vaya, todo es una falsa realidad para conquistar el voto hispánico. De cualquier forma seguimos siendo tratados como mierda. Vaya, Vaya.

[RaderBarbarian]

Ah, Repuklican trolls come in all languages. I feel so much better knowing that.

[shockmagog]

"Clowns are funny."
-George W. Bush

[Ginzaman]

Good for them to have this done in Spanish. The days of we-are-superior-Americans-so-speak-English-damnit! are long gone. The rest of the world is multi-lingual. Why can't we do the same?

[shockmagog]

What do you expect? We still use the English system of measurement.

[PollM]

Who do you think won the Univision Democratic Debate in Miami -----> http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=458

[booboouu]

thompson

[shockmagog]

I don't know, I get Univision, but it wasn't on.

[Qbear]

ESPINA....get one

[bickerson4]

Payasos.

[josephpatrick]

It's Dodd's and Richardson's chance to shine!

for political commentary & blogs, visit:
http://www.politidose.com/

[booboouu]

Damn, Miami University got their ass kicked this weekend and now this...not a good week for those people...they deserve a break...call off the debate...

[Shashi0224]

I don't mind having the debates translated into Spanish, but, why can't it be broadcast with English subtitles at least? I just went up and down the channels and found the debate in Spanish, but no where could I find it in English. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
This is ridiculous! Why does it have to be one or the other? SAP translates from English to Spanish so no one who speaks Spanish is missing anything!

[InofTouch]

SAP stands for Second Audio Program..not Spanish..

and They do have subtitles but you have to go with caption

[feelfree]

They want you to use closed captioning for the hearing impaired to read it in English.

[cblcar]

Yeah, what's with the whole Cuba blockade nonsense? At a time when we need all the trading partners we can get this is so archaic. That we have a relationship with China and not Cuba is ludicrous. As for being bilingual, I think it would be great if our president spoke a second language -- any second language.

[mari2JJ]

Or if he could could even accuratly speak English would be a great improvement. Two languages is probably far above his capabilities.

[otispfudpucker]

I agree, I am sick of listening to the current Prez speak in his only native tongue, "ignorant".

[BobK]

Ya know, Dub's speech impediment isn't really HIS problem. What with Cheney's hand up his ass as puppeteer, Dub has trouble concentrating on moving his mouth in synch with Dick's words!

[smartstuart]

Whomever has the cajones to admit our policy toward Castro and Cuba is wrong-and that we need to open up toward Cuba-as we have with China,Vietnam and the Eastern bloc of former Communist nations, will win the debate. Whomever says we will end the farce that is Radio and TV Marti(it has cost us $450 MILLION dollars to date-and reaches almost noone in Cuba because Castro blocks their signal!) will win the day! Miami politics is changing-and some Dem MUST realize not only that, but that the old time Cubans won't vote for them no matter what they say-so go ahead and tell them the TRUTH for a change!!!

[smartstuart]

As one who grew up in Miami, and lived there for over 40 years, I believe I know what I'm saying is accurate! For how long will the Cuban-American community allow the failure by John Kennedy with regard to the Bay of Pigs blind them? Perhaps they can explain the failures of ANY Republican president to do ANYTHING to get rid of Castro-except to harden the embargo- which only hurts the Cuban people-not the Castro heirarchy!

[mari2JJ]

Here here!!! Imagine a U S governmental policy that forces children NOT so send subsistence money to their parents. How in the world can a so-called Christian nation put up with that sort of disgusting idea.

If you think that the embargo is blamed on Cuba, you are much mistaken. Splitting families like out Cuban policy is not in keeping with the chest beating family values point of view. So in my book, Chris Dodd is correct and it is my hope that in the next election, we can elect someone who has some sense about Cuban policy that is in keeping with our Christian, Family Values!!!!

[otispfudpucker]

You are so very right and also was it not Obama that said some time ago he would talk to our advisaries? Castro being one of them and was it not Hillary who tried to bad mouth him for this?
The embargo on Cuba has proved useless for almost 50 years. It is time we we open up with Cuba......Viva Obama.........

[PollM]

Ridiculous, I thought part of becoming an American is to learn English. It seems the larger the number, the more we are willing to pander. What is going on here. Do you think candidates should communicate to voters with their native tongue? http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=456

[mactheknife]

Total pandering.

This bunch of democrats will do anything to get elected. Anything that is, except stand strong for America.

They will be all things to all people, except patriots.

Unfortunately, those that they are pandering (Lying) to, believe them.

[shockmagog]

That sounds like sample dialogue from Starship Troopers.

[RaderBarbarian]

Actually there are quite a few of us who are not suffering from inferiority complexes and paranoia and do not mind if people speak and understand the language of their parents, whether YOU understands it or not. I guess YOU are going to have to just get used to it - ha ha - or else remain in your safe little English-only cocoon while the rest of the world moves on to things that matter.

[SharedHumanity]

I must agree with you. My wife is bilingual (her choice)and I love to hear her speak Spanish to her patients. She is a midwife and has brought hundreds of new citizens into this world in Chicago.

[artsandminds]

Yes, now go to Mexico during their election cycle and see how far you would get if you wanted an debate in English. I would have far less of an issue with this if all the major languages where pandered to, not just the ones driving down our wages.

[eddiestardust]

Sorry RaderBarbarian but I question your patriotism.

This is America for pete sakes,not a 3rd World Country and not Mexico!

Go to any other country and request a Visa and live there and you will find out first hand that you are expected to learn the language.

It's just plain common sense.

If you aren't joking I can tell you have none.

[dadw5boys]

IMAGINE HOW THE IRAQI'S FEEL PULLING UP TO A ENGLISH ONLY CHECK POINT!