A pander a bit too far

We expect politicians to pander to the audience they're appearing before and last night's Univision debate that was simultaneously translated into Spanish was no exception. But some panders are just not all that artful.

And the candidates were eager to connect their experiences with those of the Latino community.

Clinton noted that her campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, is a Latina, while Obama likened the work of labor activist Cesar Chavez to that of Martin Luther King Jr.

Former senator John Edwards (N.C.) bragged that the small town where he grew up, Robbins, N.C., "is now half Latino."

Clinton touts her campaign manager's ethnic origin as if what Hispanics in this country are truly concerned about is token members of a person's campaign rather than real action. Praising Cesar Chavez does nothing about Hispanic issues today just as praising Martin Luther King says nothing about what a candidate would do today about issues facing blacks. But, as usual, John Edwards goes the lowest. He somehow thinks that it reflects positively on him that his former hometown is now half Latino. Hmmm, I wonder how non-Latinos feel about his pride in an American town becoming now half Latino. Is Edwards touting this as a desired goal? I wonder how that message plays in the Other America in the Appalachian towns Edwards was visiting this summer.

None of these three statements really have anything to do with the real issues facing Hispanic Americans, issues that the Univision reporters also asked them about. They're just throwaway lines in the panderfest that such debates invite. But they are revealing of how these non-Latino candidates think they can appeal to Hispanic voters. Personally, if I were Hispanic, I would cringe at such clueless pandering.