DENVER—Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson said Monday that sponsors of the first ever Spanish-language presidential debate slighted Hispanics when they barred him from personally speaking Spanish in what he called a gag order to appease the front-running candidates.
The New Mexico governor said Hispanics will be a major force in the upcoming presidential election, especially in states with early primaries and caucuses such as Arizona and California.
“Hispanics, I believe, are going to determine this election. I was disappointed that Univision, the largest Hispanic network, practiced English-only, instead of letting the one Hispanic candidate just say a few words in Spanish,” Richardson said.
“I felt it was a gag that was unfortunate because here you had the leading Hispanic network in the country not allowing Spanish. It was a bow to the so-called front-runners who didn’t want us to show off our Spanish,” he said at a news conference to announce a Hispanic outreach program for his campaign.
During the Sunday debate in Coral Gables, Fla., anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas posed questions in Spanish and the candidates had earpieces to hear simultaneous translations into English. The candidates’ responses were simultaneously translated into Spanish for broadcast.
Network spokeswoman Brooke Morganstein said Univision didn’t want to give Richardson an unfair advantage.
“We wanted to ensure a level playing field for all of the candidates,” Morganstein said.
Ramona Martinez, a leader of Richardson’s Hispanic outreach program in Colorado, agreed, saying debate sponsors were just trying to be fair to the other candidates.
Richardson said he won’t change his stance against keeping American troops in Iraq, despite a report Monday from U.S. commanding Gen. David Petraeus that last winter’s buildup in U.S. troops had met its military objectives “in large measure” and recommending a slow withdrawal of U.S. forces.
“I believe there is no military solution to the war in Iraq. I believe there is a political solution, but time is escaping us unless we start a withdrawal, start a reconciliation process,” Richardson said. “General Petraeus is a very able military leader, but this is a strategy that is failing, and in my judgment, the best process, the best procedure is for the Congress to take the necessary steps, not just to stop the surge, but to deauthorize the war.”
Richardson announced several outreach efforts on Monday, including a campaign directed at Hispanic families. Martinez said health care, education and the war in Iraq will be major factors in winning the Hispanic vote.
