Cuban-Americans have traditionally been Republican supporters, especially first-generation Cuban immigrants. They whole-heartedly supported the Grand Old Party and its actions against Fidel Castro in the form of economic embargos, and sanctions. This was an ethnic group whose support was taken for granted by the republicans, but can they count on them this time round. Miami-Dade County accounts for 770,000 of the nearly 1 million Cuban-Americans in the state.
The South Florida Cuban-Americans have always voted in large numbers in Presidential elections and the present republican candidate's are campaigning to get their votes in the primary/caucus. John McCain, Arizona Senator and Robert Giuliani, former New York Mayor, Michael Huckabee, former Arkansas Governor and Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor are campaigning to get the support of the Cuban-American republicans. McCain and Giuliani are popular among the community and are using all tricks to get them over to their sides.
Cuban-American's especially, second and third generation citizen's are more politically aware and their political decisions no longer depend on the past actions of the republicans. Immigration being one of the major issues currently and many Cubans still undertaking dangerous sea-journey's in overcrowded rickety old boats to enter the United States of America, everyone is closely watching the policy statements by the republican candidate's.
While John McCain's campaign has been endorsed by Senator Martinez and the states three Cuban-American House members, Robert Giuliani's has been backed by a number of local and state Cuban-American representatives. The other two contenders, namely, Huckabee and Romney are not very popular within the local Cuban community.
It goes without saying that Cuban-Americans have no love lost for the Democrats, especially, after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1962 and Bill Clinton and his administration's decision in 2000 to forcibly send back Elian Gonzalez, a young boy, to his father in Cuba.
One thing is certain, a big majority of the Cuban-American's will vote for the Republicans - the only question is which candidate will they vote for in the primary/caucus. Yes, they could make a difference in the Presidential elections, if the overall voting percentage is low.
I love politics.
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Encouraging all Democrats to get involved in the 08 election
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Schultz
http://EzineArticles.com/?Will-the-Cuban-Americans-Play-a-Key-Role-in-2008-Presidential-Elections?&id=950745
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