Dems light up Twitter

By Michael Mayo

Sun Sentinel

Bienvenido a Miami, home to Spanglish and a different kind of reality.

Befuddled tourists who come here often don’t understand how a place that is in the United States is also a place where English is a second language. The top-rated TV newscasts and radio stations in Miami are in Spanish. The No. 1 complaint I’ve gotten from readers through the years (especially as Broward County has gotten more Hispanic) is about bilingualism and the language wars. As in, “Why can’t everyone speak English? If you’re going to come to this country, learn English!”

So you could imagine the confusion of those across the country when they tuned into “El Debate Demscrata” from Miami-Dade College in Kendall last Wednesday and felt like they had just landed at an art-house cinema foreign film – without the subtitles.

The debate began in Spanish, with a confusing simultaneous English translation. This is what happens when you have a debate presented by Univision, a network for Spanish speakers.

Immediately, the Twitterverse lit up.

“I’m watching a presidential debate in the United States tonight, being conducted in Spanish. Adios, America!” Ann Coulter, the conservative commentator, wrote on Twitter.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders debated in English (except for the part where Clinton said “Basta,” enough, to Donald Trump.) But the themes were about immigration and the struggles of Latinos, including an emotional translated question from a woman whose husband had been deported.

What I wondered: How would this play in Peoria?

And would this fuel more nativist outrage and play right into Donald Trump’s hands, making more independents and blue-collar Democrats angry that somehow “we” were “losing” our country?

Might this inclusion and diversity somehow backfire on Democrats, at least in this ugly election cycle?

Latino-friendly flavor

After the Democratic debate, I asked Julian Castro, the U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development mentioned as a possible Clinton running mate, if the Spanish portions and Latino-friendly flavor might have incensed some voters.

“I think that almost anything that folks do in politics these days incenses someone,” Castro said. “But our country is strong because we are a nation of immigrants and because we’re diverse. Florida is one of the most diverse and fast-growing states in our country, and the debate tonight was reflective of that.”

Nativists are winning big on the Republican side, with conservative Hispanic Republicans named Cruz and Rubio getting beaten by Trump. Jeb Bush, a proficient Spanish speaker who married a Mexican, is gone from the race. Rubio will soon be gone from the race, and Cruz (born in Canada to a Cuban father and American mother) will probably face new questions from Trump about his eligibility to run for president if it becomes a head-to-head race.

The great Hispanic shift is the big American political theme of the early 21st century.

Conventional wisdom and changing demographics say a Trump-like candidate shouldn’t be able to win a national election.

But Trump has been trumping conventional wisdom for the last nine months, and he’s been motivating more new voters to turn out throughout primary season.

Can that same wave of momentum propel him to victory in November?

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