I think it will matter. I remember a Comptroller race in New York in which the Republican incumbent was set to cruise for reelection until he made a remark that singled out bodegas in a negative light, prompting his heavy defeat. It's one thing for Trump and his people to say disgusting things about people coming across the border, but attacking Puerto Ricans, who are all American citizens, is going to hurt.
No, this was a state-wide race. It's hard to find stuff about it online, but the incumbent Republican was an Italian-American man who had won the job by pushing a homophobic line and then lost it by showing disrespect toward Latinos.
Hispanic leaders slammed Attorney General Dennis Vacco yesterday following a report he used the words тАЬbodegaтАЭ and тАЬbandidoтАЭ while talking about crime and the death penalty.
Answering a question from the Jewish Week newspaper about the death penalty as a deterrent to crime, Vacco is quoted as saying: тАЬWe donтАЩt do surveys of criminals. You donтАЩt stand outside a bodega and ask the bandido if he would have killed somebody if there was no death penalty.тАЭ
Vacco! Yes, I dimly remember him. That makes sense; I was trying to figure out why a Comptroller candidate would be talking about bodegas. Not impossible of course. In any case, what an imbecile. Nice find on your part!
I think it will matter. I remember a Comptroller race in New York in which the Republican incumbent was set to cruise for reelection until he made a remark that singled out bodegas in a negative light, prompting his heavy defeat. It's one thing for Trump and his people to say disgusting things about people coming across the border, but attacking Puerto Ricans, who are all American citizens, is going to hurt.
I think you might be thinking of a different race. As near as I can tell NYC hasn't had a Republican comptroller since the 40's.
No, this was a state-wide race. It's hard to find stuff about it online, but the incumbent Republican was an Italian-American man who had won the job by pushing a homophobic line and then lost it by showing disrespect toward Latinos.
If you remember what race this was, please post about it. Very interesting, and quite plausible.
I'll probably remember his name later.
I did some research. It was actually an Attorney General race. His name was Dennis Vacco. Here's the Wikipedia article about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Vacco And here's a Daily News story about the comment that sunk his reelection campaign: https://www.nydailynews.com/1998/10/29/vacco-comment-fuels-hispanics-ire/
And here's the first paragraph of the story:
Hispanic leaders slammed Attorney General Dennis Vacco yesterday following a report he used the words тАЬbodegaтАЭ and тАЬbandidoтАЭ while talking about crime and the death penalty.
Answering a question from the Jewish Week newspaper about the death penalty as a deterrent to crime, Vacco is quoted as saying: тАЬWe donтАЩt do surveys of criminals. You donтАЩt stand outside a bodega and ask the bandido if he would have killed somebody if there was no death penalty.тАЭ
Vacco! Yes, I dimly remember him. That makes sense; I was trying to figure out why a Comptroller candidate would be talking about bodegas. Not impossible of course. In any case, what an imbecile. Nice find on your part!