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 harlie
Black is getting lots of bad
press for Karl Rove's Vieques decision. What folks don't realize
is that, had Puerto Rico's Statehood party won the governor's race
in 2000, some other famous Republican consultant would have pressed
Rove for exactly the same decision and probably obtained it.
There are three parties in Puerto Rico: the New Progressive party,
which supports statehood for Puerto Rico; the Popular Democratic
party, which supports continuation of the island's current commonwealth
status; and the Independence party, whose name should be self-explanatory.
The leaders of each of these parties have each been busily pouring
gasoline on the fire of the Vieques issue. It was during the tenure
of Statehood party Governor Pedro "Not One More Bomb" Rossello that
the drive to expel the Navy from Vieques began in earnest. It was
only when the Statehooders realized that "Yankee go home" made a
poor motto for a prospective 51st state that they agreed to a compromise
with Bill Clinton on the Vieques issue.
Official Washington sees Puerto Rico's Statehood party as identified
with the Republican party, while the Commonwealth party is seen
as part of the Democratic party. Both the Statehood and Commonwealth
parties play the Republican/Democrat political game when visiting
the mainland, but both parties think pretty much the same way, except
when it comes to the issue of the island's future status.
For too many Puerto Rico politicians in both the Statehood and the
Commonwealth parties, the U.S. treasury is a major industry and
the Puerto Rico treasury is a piggy bank best used to reward friends
and punish enemies.
This means that all of Puerto Rico's politicians are intensely focused
on manipulating the levers of American politics for the benefit
of Puerto Rico, while there is no real constituency opposing them.
In this way, Puerto Rico can be compared to the Japan Inc. that
Michael Crichton wrote about in his novel, Rising Sun:
They own the government. You know what they spend
in Washington every year? Four hundred million…dollars a year.
…Now you tell me. Would they spend all that money, year after
year, if it wasn't paying off for them?
That same question could be asked of Puerto Rico, even though the
sums involved are far lower. Puerto Rico invested close to $4 million
in 2000 election contests and nearly $3 million in 1996. The island's
government spends an average of $4 million per year for lobbying.
(For more detail, see "Stand
Firm on Vieques").
This kind of spending will buy anyone a respectful hearing in Washington.
In fact, Puerto Rico lobbying contracts undoubtedly helped keep
some political consulting/lobbying shops open during the lean years
of 1997-98.
I'm told Charlie Black worked hard against statehood for Puerto
Rico during that time. (He and I have never met.) But there were
other Republicans working for statehood — folks who would have
no trouble getting a meeting with Karl Rove had the Statehooders
retained power in the last election.
The curious thing about Puerto Rico's political influence is how
it is able to portray support for Puerto Rican issues as a means
of winning the Hispanic vote. For the party decried as a tool of
business interests, the GOP does not seem to understand what the
business community already knows: Hispanics do not all think the
same way.
The most recent proof of this basic fact appeared in the story,
"Financial Services Industry Fails to Reach Many Hispanics," which
ran in the June 20th New York Times business section: "Hispanics
are, after all, a diverse group: a pitch that appeals to Mexicans,
the largest subgroup, could fall flat with Cuban immigrants."
The Mexican-American in Laredo and the Cuban-American in Miami are
not losing sleep over Puerto Rico's political status or continued
Navy training on Vieques. The people who are losing sleep over the
Vieques issue are America's military leaders, who know they are
sending undertrained people into harm's way in distant foreign lands,
and America's men and women in uniform who are risking their lives
every day.
Were the Republicans (or the Democrats) to stand up for ensuring
America's national security, they would earn and deserve the votes
of Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike.
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