How did Univision’s interviews affect Obama and Romney?

Last week, presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney spoke separately on the Spanish-language television channel Univision to address issues regarding the Latino community and, of course, to attempt to woo Latino voters.

Obama’s failure to follow through on plans for immigration reform during his first term was highlighted in the Univision forum. Moderator Jorge Ramos accused Obama of going back on his word, saying, “A promise is a promise and with all due respect, you didn’t keep that promise.”

Obama openly acknowledged this failed promise, thus directly damaging his re-election campaign and relationship with a key voter base that has consistently supported him since 2008. Mitt Romney, however, has not been in a position to affect change for the last four years, nor has he made unfulfilled promises.

The Univision forum will not have a huge impact on Latino voters’ opinions of Romney, whose potential for election relies on other voter demographics’ support. Obama, on the other hand, might need the support of this voting bloc now more than ever and will now have to come up with some concrete immigration policies if he is to hold onto the Latino vote.

Rewind to 2008, with Ramos again interviewing Obama, but when he was still a presidential candidate. Ramos asked if he would commit to immigration reform.

Obama’s response: “I cannot guarantee that it’s going to be in the first 100 days. But what I can guarantee is that we will have in the first year an immigration bill that I strongly support and that I’m promoting and that I want to move that forward as quickly as possible.”

This bill did not happen in his first year. A major 2008 campaign promise to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants materialized in the form of the DREAM Act, but it failed to pass in the Senate. If he was truly committed to making that promise a reality, wouldn’t he have pushed harder for its passage by now?

Obama had four years to tackle immigration policy. Though there certainly have been other pertinent problems to deal with, there is no excuse for failing to deal with such an important and relevant issue when the administration assured voters on the campaign trail in 2008 that immigration reform would occur during Obama’s first term.

And he did not only fail to keep a promise to Latino voters, his administration had the highest number of deportations in any American presidency. He used bipartisanship in Congress and the rule of law as a scapegoat for the high deportation rate and his lack of action on immigration reform.

Romney’s interview — in which he discussed vague plans for a “permanent solution” to immigration and criticized Obama’s inaction concerning the issue — did little to boost his campaign. While it would have been a positive step forward for the Romney campaign if he had used the Univision interview as an opportunity to earn more clout with the Latino demographic, his campaign hasn’t faced any significant impact.

Voters can blame Romney for failing to articulate a strategy for immigration reform, but they can’t blame him for promising to pursue concrete action and not following through. That’s on Obama.

Both candidates’ Univision interviews were subpar, but it’s the current president who is under the most pressure and scrutiny to come up with a solution that speaks to Latino needs. Latino voters are predicted to come out in record numbers this election, and in 2008 they made up 9 percent of the electorate — losing their support would be a critical loss for Obama’s re-election.

 

Burke Gibson is a sophomore majoring in economics.

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