Column No. 5166           

HISPANIC LINK                 

11/30/11 

  

WOULD BEN HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE?

By José de la Isla

Hispanic Link News Service

  

HOUSTON — The question recently came up whether the GOP debates would have benefitted if someone like Ben Fernández were among the presidential aspirants.

  

Dig back. Who’s Ben Fernández?

  

In 1972, Fernández was responsible for organizing the Hispanic National Assembly for the Republican Party. He was a fundraiser who supported Richard Nixon. When that activity led to a chapter in the Watergate investigation, he changed tactics and began registering more Latinos for the party.

  

This bit of history reflects on what is wrong with the Grand Old Party nearly four decades later. Assuming its current presidential nomination aspirants reflect where the party wants to go, it has disowned its own history and its building blocks of the past.

  

While the party cries for national leadership, it is shaped by a myopic, pup-tent perspective. Most of the current candidates seem to be trying to convince themselves and the public that they can get away with alienating Latinos with their assaults on Latinos’ human dignity.

  

Rumors back in the 1970s before the Watergate fiasco suggested that Fernández might be rewarded by President Nixon with a Cabinet appointment like Secretary of Commerce for his efforts. Later, Fernández realized he was being used by campaign hacks when the administration turned its back even on equity measures for Latinos in federal employment.

  

Next, he set out to make the Hispanic National Assembly an influence among Republicans. This happened when Gerald Ford ran for president and lost. Then, in 1978, Fernández astounded the party by announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination. He campaigned in 1980 alongside such formidable contenders as Commerce Secretary John Connally, Connecticut Senator Lowell P. Weicker, Illinois Congressman John H. Anderson and California Governor Ronald Reagan.

  

Fernández succeeded in drawing the attention of millions of Latinos to at least consider the Republican alternative for their vote. He was probably responsible for the still-current belief that Hispanic Republicans represent an “economic conservative and social liberal” demographic. That slogan still needs definition but it worked for a while.

  

Fernández ran again in 1984, extending out also to Democrats and independents to draw new people into the nation’s political life and have them consider the issues he posed and answers he offered. Reagan was known to have liked this.

  

What a difference this was compared to the current crop of nomination-seekers who value national disengagement, separate and unequal, shameful excesses that border on human rights crimes, family disintegration and educational decline for new populations.

  

Political leadership is about lifting people’s vision to see what is possible. It’s about the pursuit of the highest common denominator as a society, not our baser selves.

  

It used to be the art of the possible, not crass class distinction.

  

Fernández was not a hero, but he did lift the discussion during three election cycles so that smart candidates had to think twice before trying to turn the electorate into a mob.

  

One time, back in the ’70s, Fernández said something interesting that applies today about some Republicans who had accused him of giving distracting, simplistic answers because he was not fanning the fires that turn audiences mean.

  

The leadership, “They’re suffering delusions,” he said, “not keeping in step with the times…We’re hoping to be invited but we’re not waiting to be. We’re moving in.”

That was actually a voice for moderation 40 years ago. Maybe, again another generation of leaders needs to take over the Republican Party’s management, one who understands the lessons taught by good Republicans like Benjamin Fernández.

  

If they can’t turn it around, the only other story to learn is that of the dodo bird.

[José de la Isla, a nationally syndicated columnist for Hispanic Link and Scripps Howard news services, has been recognized for two consecutive years for his commentaries by New America Media. His forthcoming book is “Our Man on the Ground.” Previous books include “DAY NIGHT LIFE DEATH HOPE” (2009) and “The Rise of Hispanic Political Power” (2003). Reach him at joseisla3@yahoo.com.]

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   ©2011  

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