LEXIS-NEXISŽ Academic Universe-Document

LEXIS-NEXISŽ Academic

July 30, 2000, Sunday 4 STAR EDITION

SECTION: A; Pg. 30

LENGTH: 825 words

HEADLINE: Republican Convention Philadelphia 2000;
Hispanic voters may be intrigued by Bush's courting

SOURCE: Staff

BYLINE: LORI RODRIGUEZ, Houston Chronicle Minority Affairs Writer

DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA

BODY:
PHILADELPHIA - For the last 14 months, Houston businessman Raul Romero has gamely crisscrossed the country on behalf of his home state's "hijo favorito," or favorite son, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Often at Bush's side and charged with the job of Hispanic outreach, Romero has tapped into a lifetime of high-powered contacts, linking fellow Latinos with his close personal friend, who will claim the Republican presidential nomination this week.

In Romero's hometown, where Hispanics in the new census may approach 40 percent of the population, he has told every minority who would listen that Bush is a uniter, not a divider. In California, where the GOP-driven, anti-immigrant initiatives of the 1990s pushed Latinos to the Democratic camp in droves, Romero has said the same has never happened in Bush's Texas. And in this city whose name is Greek for "brotherly love," Romero for weeks has meticulously planned an elaborate, Latino-themed event aimed at the hearts and souls of an electorate historically Democratic but now seen as increasingly up-for-grabs: The nation's 7 million Hispanic registered voters.

The event will be Bush's first public appearance when he arrives in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

"This is going to be a magnificent celebration that sends forth a very compelling message," Romero says.

"We want to make a statement, and that is that the governor is a new kind of Republican who believes in inclusion, not exclusion; in uniting, not dividing," he says. "What we're trying to say is give this guy a chance."

The finishing touches were put this weekend on the gala at the Philadelphia Museum of Art based on a Bush campaign mantra that promises a new day, " "Es Un Nuevo Dia." " Emilio Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine are headlining the Latino star power. Hispanic heavyweights in attendance range from Houston city controller Sylvia Garcia to Los Angeles chairman of the Latin Business Association, Hector Barreto. Latino youngsters will talk about reaching their American Dreams, GOP-style.

But even as the Republican National Committee continues to pump an expected $ 10 million into wooing the nation's fastest-growing constituency, the 4,000-plus delegates descending this week are still overwhelmingly white.

Against a backdrop of anti-immigrant, anti-affirmative action sentiment from some GOP candidates, President Clinton raked in 72 percent of the Latino vote in 1996, a jump from the 61 percent he managed in 1992.

To the faithful, though, Bush is tailor-made to heal his party's racial breaches. He speaks serviceable Spanish, has a Mexico-born sister-in-law, counts Latinos and blacks among his closest friends and prides himself on winning an unprecedented 40 percent of the Texas Hispanic vote in 1998. Since the Iowa primary, when he rolled out a Spanish-language TV ad promising "Un Nuevo Dia," Bush has also doggedly gone where few white Republicans have dared.

He ventured among conferees in Baltimore for the annual meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Dole shunned that gathering in 1996, and has since openly regretted the snub.

Bush also assiduously courted black members of the Congress of Racial Equality, and Latinos at the National Council of La Raza meeting in San Diego and at the League of United Latin American Citizens gathering in Washington.

"Personally, I have what I believe in and who I will eventually vote for," LULAC national president Rick Dovalina, a Houston attorney, says. "But I also know that, as an organization, it's very important for us to keep our options open and support the Latino agenda, whichever candidate and party best addresses it."

San Antonio media guru Lionel Sosa, who has produced Latino-targeted ads for every Republican ticket but Dole's since 1980, believes minorities, and especially Hispanics, are beginning to rethink their traditional Democratic loyalty.

"We're using a message of inclusion, of opportunity, of shared conservative values, and we're addressing issues important to Latinos: education, health care, Social Security," Sosa says. "Most importantly, we're showing the governor as the man that he is - a different kind of Republican."

Bush's sway has been enough to color this convention at a minimum as politically correct. A platform draft released Thursday drops previous language that would make English the official language. The draft excludes 1996 provisions recommending the denial of social services to illegal immigrants and stating that even legal immigrants should not rely on taxpayer help.

But wherever Bush has met a large minority gathering this election season, Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic candidate, has almost always appeared before or after him. So has a self-appointed "truth squad" of minority Democratic officeholders from Texas, including Houston state Sen. Mario Gallegos and state Rep. Garnet Coleman, who have pounded the Bush record.

LOAD-DATE: November 21, 2000