Univision's Presidential Forum Outdraws English-Language Debates

An impressive 4.6 million viewers tuned into Univision's Democratic Presidential Candidate Forum last night, demonstrating that Hispanics are just as eager and invested in next year's election as any other audience. According to Nielsen Fast National Ratings, the 4.6 million viewership trumps the average reach of 4.3 million viewers set by this year's English-language debates on ABC, CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. The difference is especially stark for adults aged 25 to 54; for this middle demographic, the Univision Forum drew 49 percent more viewers than those who have watched the English-language debates thus far. Said Univision Communications Inc. CEO in a press release, "Univision is proud to ensure the Hispanic community is informed, educated, and empowered."

Comments

[hgg]

When the Irish and Italian immigrants came to the US the racists of the day said they couldn't be assimilated, they didn't share our culture and religion. They were importing their corrupt politics and crime from their home countries.

The majority of Hispanics in the US were born in the USA. English is their first language and by the end of the century Hispanics will be the majority in the US so you might as well get used to it. The Republicans just blew off the fastest growing voting block in the country but they will still have the KKK and white supremacists vote which in the not to distant future might get them elected dog catcher in some backwater districts.

[mexamerican]

i agree. dems showed courage attempting to reach out to latino voters. it's smart too. write off hispanics at your own risk. even the turd and the turd blossom know that.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

This is a self-fulfilling prophecy which is to be avoided.... Importing the qualities and SCALE of Third World excesses will destroy both the productivity and the ecological base of the U.S.!

[Amoradocat]

I can't believe half the racist crap people comment on here. I am Hispanic and some of this is deeply offended. Mexicans aren't destroying the fabric that is America, it's our own citizens xenophobia. It was a SPANISH debate held on a SPANISH-speaking network...don't like it? don't watch it! I watched the debate, I'm a American citizen and not undocumented like some of you offensive people have implied, and God knows I have every intention of voting out these Republican scum.

[nihilon x]

Welcome to America.

But seriously...don't worry about a lot of what people say here. For some reason, when on the internet a lot of people throw civility and courtesy right out the window.

Remember -- they used to bash the Japanese for making better cars than Americans.

Now people don't think anything of buying a Japanese car -- some even prefer it.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

...then don't believe it! To paraphrase your statement: "....don't like it? don't[sic] watch it!" (Exchange "read" for "watch"!) While you're taking on the apologist's rhetoric, best recheck your usage of English, c.f., "I am Hispanic and some of this is deeply offended[sic]."

Also, to disabuse you and your fragile ego, this discussion is about ILLEGAL ALIENS. If you take on the role of apologist for ILLEGAL ALIENS, then you too are 'fair game.'

[smartstuart]

Gee-amazingly, as the first one to post on this blog, I see it removed! All I said was that a US presidential debate held in America that is done in Spanish, or ANY foreign language is an outrage, since Hispanics must take citizenship tests, etc IN ENGLISH. I am bi-lingual-fluent in Spanish-learned over many years from my wonderful Cuban-American employees. However, I doubt any other nation would hold a presidential debate in English just to suck around a certain ethnic group-in this case,Americans. Of course, I'm talking about nations whose common language is other than English.

[shockmagog]

What country can you possibly name that has received an overwhelming flood of English-speaking immigrants? Your being bi-lingual apparently does not make you an authority on this issue.

Come, now. This has been the only forum that's been in Spanish, and how many have we had so far in English? Thirty-seven, thirty-eight? I lost count. And how many Spanish-speaking Hispanics are citizens of this country?

'Spanish is the second most common language in the United States after English. There are more Spanish speakers in the United States than speakers of French, Hawaiian, and the Native American languages combined. According to the 2000 United States Census, Spanish is spoken most frequently at home by about 28.1 million people aged 5 or over. The United States is home to more than 40 million Hispanics, making it the fifth largest Spanish-speaking community in the world, after Mexico, Colombia, Spain and Argentina. Roughly half of all Spanish speakers in the US also speak English "very well."'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_in_the_United_States#_note-2000_Census.2C_Language_in_the_US

'Hispanic remained the largest minority group, with 44.3 million on July 1, 2006 — 14.8 percent of the total population. Black was the second-largest minority group, totaling 40.2 million in 2006. They were followed by Asian (14.9 million), American Indian and Alaska Native (4.5 million), and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (1 million). The population of non-Hispanic whites who indicated no other race totaled 198.7 million in 2006.'
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/010048.html

I'd say the demographic easily supports a Spanish language forum. Where are the Republicans?

[CaptainVideo]

The Republicans are in the unenviable position of having to largely write off the Hispanic vote (except the Cubans) in order to not offend their Redneck base.

If Hispanics who are eligible to vote or can still get their citizenship and register before the Presidential election go to the polls en mass, the Republicans are going to be in for a nasty surprise.

[mexamerican]

thanks for the facts,shock. it's nice to see someone who actually knows something post.

[smartstuart]

Why should OUR politcal forums be in a foreign language? How will Spanish-speaking people here ever learn English, our language of commerce and higher learning if they never have to learn English to exist as viable American citizens? What's so hard to understand here???

[Ginzaman]

Note to corporate media. Maybe multi-lingual isn't such a bad thing after all?

[mexboy]

Okay people, you gotta cut the racist crap out. I am a U.S. citicen who is also Mexican. I vote every single time, in every single election...including primaries, how many of you do that?

I am also fully bilingual and as much as you may hate it, I will not disown my heritage.

I know your xenophobia prevents you from seeing the truth, but you ought to at least be honest with yourselves, and own up to the fact that you paint us all as illegal aliens so that you can freely spew your racist hatred. Dehumanize us and then you don't have to treat us as human beings, let alone equals...right?

By the way, who did the founding fathers get their green card from? Aren't they the original illegal aliens?
Aren't the new comers just following the path of the pilgrims?
Just be honest with yourselves and admit that you just hate Mexicans, at least you will be a racist with courage, not a racist and a coward!

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

"The founding fathers"--if you hadn't noticed--dated from the late 18th Century when the entire population--Indians included--was less than 10 millions; now, thanks to the 'fecundity' of recent immigrants, that number has ballooned to 300 million, and the condition of the environment shows it! Mexico, your Nirvanaland has tripled its population since the late 1940s. To what end? Today Mexico lurches from one financial crisis to another--even after nationalizing the U.S.-owned oil industry in the 1930s. Effectively, parts of THAT COUNTRY have descended into narco-dystopia....

Of some interest to the PC-liberals(?), the father of Alberto Gonzales was ILLEGAL and begat, in addition to "Fredo," SEVEN other spawn!

[cynara]

So, let me get this straight. Immigrants cause population growth, so you don't like immigrants, I would guess legal or not, because they both cause population growth.

[CaptainVideo]

The U.S. would definitely have been better off if Gonzales' father had been deported. Then Alberto would have been a problem for the Mexican government.

[CaptainVideo]

When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock they did not have immigration visas from the Indian tribe who owned the land in that area.

But then, Hernando Cortez and his troops did not have immigration visas from the tribe who owned the land around Veracruz either. The Europeans in both the U.S. and Mexico simply grabbed the land from the Indians.

[CaptainVideo]

Mexicans who enter the United States legally should be welcomed and encouraged to apply for U.S. citizenship when they have met the requirements. They should by all means be encouraged to register and vote.

I am a legal immigrant myself, from Germany, and always vote in national elections and almost always in the others.

There is a difference between being opposed to people from any country illegaly entering the United States and prejudice against a particular ethnic group, but the two issues have, unfortunately, gotten very badly entangled.

Mexico does not permit people to enter it illegaly and rightly so. It has a right to defend its borders. The same rule applies to the United States.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

Yes, and ten German immigrants have/could have contributed more to the dev. of the U.S. than all Mexican immigrants collectively!

[joja]

mexboy --

So, everytime Mexico City is criticized, it's racsist?

I think you, and a lot of other posters, have been led to believe the fascist garbage which has been spewed from Mexico City since, oh, say the last 50 - 60 years, at least. And that is, that Mexico is poor, and Mexico is pathetic, and Mexico needs help, and blah, blah, blah . . . that's exactly what the ruling wealthy class wants everyone to believe.

That way, they can control the wealth (which is a lot), not share it with the rest of the people, encourage them to go to the US to find jobs, education, healthcare, etc., send money back to Mexico (it's second largest source of income!), and all the while, blaming the lack of progress in Mexico on the vile racsists living in the US.

If America adopted the same immigration laws as Mexico, what would you say? Talk about racsist! You should put as much energy into reforming that sack of shit country as you do into criticizing the US, but, as usual, it's easier to run away from a problem than to deal with it, right?

That would account for the 10s of millions of Mexican immigrants who can't, or won't, do anything about their own country.

[TheBurritoAssassin]

An impressive 4.6 million viewers tuned into Univision's Democratic Presidential Candidate Forum last night, demonstrating that Hispanics are just as eager and invested in next year's election as any other audience.

Unfortunately for libs, most of those viewers are illegal aliens who can't vote.

Amusing.

[cynara]

How do you know that? Actually, I would assume most viewers would be able to vote, or why would they care?

[Maverick226]

With the way Nielsen works, you're probably right - I can't imagine that the Nielsen system would incorporate many illegals (though I can't claim to know how Nielsen families are picked).

Illegals should care about how the next election plays out to see if they will have a harder or easier time here, if there will be immigration reform or not.

[shockmagog]

"Unfortunately for libs, most of those viewers are illegal aliens who can't vote."

If the illegal aliens were predisposed to the GOP, the Republicans would figure out a way to make their votes count.

Uproarious.

[Amoradocat]

Real amusing........watching Republicans crash and burn....haha

[nanderson65]

You sound so smug. As if Democracy was your idea.
If it were up to you we'd still be under the British .
It was protesters and liberals who won the revolution.
...and get the burrito out of your ass...it goes in the other end.

[tkk]

Of course more of them tune in, they have more at stake. You don't see the Democrats catering to legal constituents do you? Promising to give us what we want, do you? No, but they love the hispanics. Give 'em whatever they want.

[Amoradocat]

God.....you've got to be kidding me. I've heard this racist crap used against African-Americans and Asians, now it's going to be turned against Hispanics? Jesus Christ......America is in trouble.

[GMFORD]

No matter where you go people find somebody to hate. Different race, different language, different religion, same religion but different sect. People are idiots.

[CaptainVideo]

In appealing to Hispanic Americans who are U.S. citizens the Democrats are catering to legal constituents.

Apparently Senator McCain is the only Republican willing to participate in a Spanish language debate. The Republicans, in order to appeal to their Redneck constituents are writing off the largest growing voting block in the United States.

[realitytrumpsbull]

That's because Bush is/was the best presidente that Mexico ever had...viva el presidente!

[trotskyxxx]

Those are shitty statistics: how many of the viewers are here legally?

[getoffmedz]

trotskyxxx - bigot.

[tkk]

criminal

[TheBurritoAssassin]

He raises a valid question. There is nothing bigoted about it. Last time I checked, illegals do not have the right to vote. Nor should they ever. Nitwit.

[steamboat]

America is now over 20% Hispanic-American (US citizens, not the illegal). The LARGEST minority and growing. All of you folks out there who don't like it, these are the facts. I think they are patriotic Americans, if you were to ask me.

[tkk]

They may be patriotic, but not to the U. S.

[TheBurritoAssassin]

I agree, those mexican americans who become naturalized are patriotic. As to the illegals, hey, I know you want to come here, but sign the damn guest book when you get here. Otherwise shut the hell up.

[forpeace]

*

"steamboat
America is now over 20% Hispanic-American (US citizens, not the illegal)..................I think they are patriotic Americans, if you were to ask me."
=================================

I will not call it "Patriotic" when they hold Mexican Flag instead of US!

*

[amanda85]

Well, I hope they aren't too much "patriotic". Nationalism is the stuff fascism is made of.

I'd really like to see Hispanics count more in America. At least 20% of Congress should be Hispanic, things would probably start changing... Instead, their political representation is woefully inadequate, while they disproportionally make a great chunk of the fighting (and dying) force in Iraq...

[getoffmedz]

The Democrats had better not underestimate Richardson as a candidate?

America is not ready for a woman or a minority as President unless the minority is Hispanic.

Richardson/Kucinich could win.

[steamboat]

If they got the nomination they would win, but they will never get the nomination. The media has already decided who there fair-haired candidates will be (Hillary, Obama, Edwards).......Also, the democratic party is great at throwing bones at groups and pulling the wool over their eyes. Look how they've totally brainwashed the African-American community. Did very little for the vote they get from them. Did nothing for the Gay-Lesbian community (unless you call 'Don't ask, Don't tell' alot) and is in the midst of fooling the hispanic community.

[CaptainVideo]

Kusinich may appeal to the left wing of the Democratic party, but for the country as a whole, he is unelectable.

[tkk]

Wouldn't that be great and then we'd be living in Mexico.

[mexboy]

Well, that's racist...come on now...but wait, the southwest was stolen from Mexico...mmmm.

[cynara]

Okay, I give - why in the world would a Richardson/Kucinich presidency signal that we would be living in Mexico?? (There is a leap of logic here that I am completely missing...)

[TheBurritoAssassin]

Kucinich. Cleveland. Mayor. Disaster. Hilarious.

[CaptainVideo]

When Kusinich was Mayor of Cleveland, he was known as "Dennis the Menace."

[Smirk]

I like and am sympathetic with many of his beliefs, but Kucinich could not win. The opposition would have a field day with him.