DewTrick, PatHurst – They’re The Same!
I’ve been a fan of Lisa Falkenberg for a long time–she’s just a good writer. Her recent take on Democrats “propping up” Dan Patrick and talking down the incumbent David Dewhurst caught my attention and I didn’t know what to think. Should Dems be in the mix of a right-wing run-off? Obviously, we should be throwing negatives about both of the right-wingers.
Bottom line: When it comes to Republicans, I think they’re all the same. Ultimately, whether one screams about “invasions” or not, Republicans have blocked immigration reform, they have voted against tuition equality for Texas DREAMers, and worst of all, they’ve blocked Medicaid expansion, they have cut $5 billion in K-12 funds, and they’ve cut another billion in higher education. I don’t need to be accused of carrying diseases by any Republican to realize that they’re not fans of Texas Hispanics. And this whole “reaching across the aisle” BS hasn’t been in practice for what, a decade?
Now, I’m one of those that does believe that Patrick is an easier target in November. If Patrick’s mouth causes more Latinos to vote Democratic, better for us. And if Patrick were to win, ushering in an even darker period in Texas governance, perhaps that will be what it takes to wake up Texans. As one of my mentors once told me, Latinos will not wake up until they have been handed the worse the right-wing has to offer. But, for now, we’ve got State Senator Leticia Van de Putte who will put in the work to sweep out the GOP from the Capitol.
The Latino Side of Obamacare
Yesterday’s numbers about the ACA Sign-Ups provided one side of the story. The other, though, is about a botched “Latino” roll-out of the Spanish-language website to sign-up Latinos which affected sign-ups, as the National Journal reported.
Why didn’t most of the 10.2 million uninsured Latinos eligible for coverage buy health insurance this year?
In part, it’s because the administration fumbled. It delayed the launch of CuidadoDeSalud.gov—the Spanish-language enrollment website—until December, when it “soft launched” so that Latino groups working with the administration could test and report bugs.
Then when the administration did promote the website, users reported that the Spanish was a messy translation. Media reports about the accuracy of the translation were mixed, but suffice it to say that the Spanish language has many regional dialects that were not all reflected in the words used on CuidadoDeSalud.gov, making it more difficult for some native speakers to understand the health insurance application process.
More importantly, the administration delayed its outreach to the Latino population.
Part of my small business is professional translations and let me tell you, you not only need to get it right, but it better make sense to the audience. And when it comes to Latinos, we’re not talking about a homogeneous audience. As I always say on this blog, it better be culturally relevant. But, mostly, you don’t delay messaging to anyone, and in this case, Latinos. Website or not, the field aspect of this needed to be in overdrive from the beginning. Those who were “working it” did it well in the end. Thankfully, the ACA is very much alive and the next sign-up period begins in a few months.
This isn’t a new story. But much like the botched attempt to market to Latinos caused a drop in Latino support for the ACA, stuff like this can affect support for the political party in power which currently has the support of the Latino electorate. In other words, get it right, Democrats! Especially here in Texas!
Music Break – Jimmy Gonzalez and Mazz f/ Marcos Orozco ~ Cantinero
doscentavos.net 