GOP is 'Wave of the Future' in Minority Communities, Harvard Alumnus Tells Students

Rudy Fernandez came back to his alma mater this month to speak to members of the Harvard Republican Club and to warn them not to let Democrats define Republicans.

"Why are Democrats so hell-bent against Miguel Estrada [Pres. Bush's judicial nominee]? It's because they don't want to hand a potential political victory to the Bush administration."

Fernandez, Director of Grassroots De-velopment for the Republican National Committee, said that Hispanic liberals tend to be suspicious of those who share their ethnicity but not their political leanings.

"What's happening to Miguel Estrada is unfair. They fear he's too conservative," Fernandez said.

"It is very dangerous, this precedent, because it says the following: 'If you're Hispanic, you can only be a liberal.'"

Fernandez said that liberal groups, that claim to speak for Hispanics, say in effect that Hispanic conservatives are "not Hispanic enough."

"They say of someone like Miguel Estrada, 'He doesn't belong to any Hispanic organizations. He is not known for identifying himself with Hispanic causes.' What it amounts to is, 'He's not Hispanic enough.'

"When was the last time you heard someone question how Anglo someone is? When was the last time you heard someone say of Kennedy on the left, or Buchanan on the right, that they are not 'Anglo' enough?

"Any Anglo can stand by what he believes, and people will hate him for it, but no one questions how Anglo he is. I find it insulting that they question this guy's ethnicity.

"I wish Democrats had supported Estrada. He epitomizes the American success story.

"It's our job to hold their feet to the fire and make them pay a political price for not supporting this qualified candidate. If you cast a vote in the United States Senate, you need to be held accountable for that vote.

"Compare Estrada's resume to that of the sitting judges on the D.C. court. People will start seeing that this is unfair."

"Republicans are called the pro-life party. We are that to an extent, but many high-profile Republicans like Rudy Giuliani and Christine Todd Whitman are pro-choice.

"When I explain to people what the Republican Party is all about, I tell them that it boils down to less government or more government. That's the true measure.

"If you believe that society's ills are best solved by safety nets and government programs, you should go with the Democrats. If you believe that we should minimize government intrusion in American life, you should be a Republican."

Fernandez said that there is enormous potential for Republican gains in the Hispanic community.

"I don't believe that Hispanics are intrinsically more liberal than Anglo-Americans. Take Latinos in California. I don't believe that 80% of them are liberal; it's that Republicans have allowed themselves to be labeled anti-immigration, and now they are paying the price. As time progresses and some of the apprehensions Latinos have about Republicans dissipate, we will see more Mexican-American Republicans."

"There are 7- to 10-million illegal immigrants in this country. They work, they pay taxes, they take jobs other Americans don't want. Something needs to be done to address their needs."

He spoke of the "245-1 immigration law that expired." This law allowed people who are in the United States illegally to legalize their status without having to return to their country of origin.

"I think there's hope that we can pass an extension," he said. "It passed a Republican-controlled House last cycle. It stalled in the Senate because Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) stopped it in its tracks.

"I'll tell you, there's a lot of demagoguery in the Democratic Party about immigration, but in 8-years of Clinton, they talked and talked about mass amnesty, but that did not happen."

Fernandez said that since September 11, the War on Terrorism has got to be the first concern in any immigration policy.

"With first generation immigrants, we tend to gain the most [voters registered with the Republican Party]. It's harder to change perceptions with second and third generation voters. Certain issues have polarized them.

"We've allowed Democrats to define Republicans. For too long, if it was a Cinco de Mayo [Mexican Independence Day] event, whatever, a Democrat would show up. No Republicans.

"It isn't rocket science or organic chemistry. If you have a press release, fax it to the Spanish-language papers, not just to The New York Times or The Massachusetts News. If you have the resources available, translate it into Spanish. Then, eventually, you will have Republicans defining Republicans.

"Hispanics understand the importance of less government and of accountability in schools, but we have to take the time to explain the issues. It's up to state party organizations to pick up the ball and start doing these things.

"Cuban-Americans support Republicans. Ninety percent of Cuban-Americans voted for Bush in 2000 because of his foreign policy toward Cuba."

Fernandez said that when he speaks to members of minority groups, they ask, "You're Latino; how could you be a conservative?"

Fernandez said that recently he spoke to students who had been chosen as "fellows" by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, "who supposedly are non-partisan. They get students to spend a summer in Washington," he said.

"I sensed that they could not grasp that I was a Hispanic and a Republican; it was beyond their comprehension. One kid told me that he was a Republican. He said, 'I feel so isolated.' As tough as those two hours were, I was glad I was there for that one kid."

Fernandez told the students that while Hispanics make up only 13% of the population, they comprise 7% of the vote.

"I was Hispanic before being Hispanic was a vote," Fernandez said. "That small percentage will continue to be important."

One of President Bush's brothers has a Mexican-American wife, and the President has been largely successful in his outreach to Hispanic voters.

"President Bush, because of his connection with Hispanic voters and because he 'gets it,' has given us a window of opportunity," Fernandez told the HRC.

"Republicans received thirty-nine percent of the Hispanic vote in 2002, but only 5% of Hispanic elected officials in this country are Republicans," Fernandez said. "We want to be able to sustain our gains until we get more Hispanics elected under the Republican banner."

Fernandez encouraged the students, some of whom are Hispanic, to become involved in politics at the local level.

"If you don't help people get elected to the state assembly, you won't get people running for Congress. Next year, you kids should get involved in the New Hampshire primary."

Rudy Fernandez is only 30 years old, but he was recently named by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" in the United States. He was one of only two people that young to be named to the list.

"I see myself settling down in Miami," he says, although these days he is "always on airplanes" as he travels the country on behalf of President Bush.

"Our goal is to re-elect this president," he says. "It's funny the way Karl Rove indoctrinates his troops."

As an undergraduate at Harvard, Fernandez was a Government major, specializing in both American politics and United States/Latin America relations. "While I was here I was into the [student newspaper] Harvard Crimson," he says. "I wrote for the Crimson for a couple of years."

Fernandez's main task within the Bush administration is to oversee the outreach efforts of the Republican National Committee and to promote the President's agenda among all constituency groups. Last year, Fernandez led efforts by the RNC to assist minority candidates running for local, state and federal offices, which resulted in over $750,000 in contributions to over 140 Hispanic and African-American Republican candidates.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela to Cuban-American parents and raised in Miami, Florida, Fernandez served as press secretary to Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

He sees an exciting future for minorities within the Republican Party, especially among new citizens who are excited about their newly-acquired American citizenship.

"At every citizenship swearing-in ceremony, there should be Republican volunteers in a booth passing out literature. If you show up with a booth with friendly volunteers explaining why they are Republicans, these new voters are going to become Republicans. That's the sheer dynamics of it."

Biography: Rudy Fernández is the Director of Grassroots Development for the Republican National Committee. He is charged with the task of overseeing the RNC's outreach efforts and promoting President George W. Bush's agenda among all constituency groups across the ethnic, religious, and ideological spectrum. Fernández is the first Hispanic to head this division, created under the leadership of President Bush.

Hispanic Business Magazine recently named Fernández one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" in the United States. He was one of only two individuals under the age of 30 to be named to this prestigious list.

Fernández played a leading role in the development and implementation of the GOP's Hispanic outreach strategy which led to Republican Congressional candidates nationwide receiving 39% of the Hispanic vote in 2002, a net gain of 8 percentage points over 1998 and 2000 results.

In 2002, Fernández also led unprecedented efforts by the RNC to assist minority candidates running for local, state, and federal offices, which resulted in more than $750,000 in contributions to more than 140 Hispanic and African American candidates.

Fernández is one of the leading RNC spokespersons, representing the Committee in hundreds of media interviews and speaking engagements throughout the country.

Before joining the RNC Political Division, Fernández served as a press secretary for the Committee. During his tenure in the Communications Department, Fernández oversaw the Committee's media relations in the Southwest region, implementing an aggressive media strategy in states such as California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Prior to coming to the RNC, Fernández was the press secretary for Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. In this role, he was responsible for the Congresswoman's media relations in both Washington and Miami.

Fernández attended Harvard University, where he was a Government major, specializing in both U.S. Politics and U.S./Latin America Relations.

He was born in Caracas, Venezuela to Cuban-American parents. At the age of 10, he and his family moved to Miami, Florida, where his family still resides.

Ernani Jose DeAraujo is Diversity Outreach Director for the Harvard Republican Club.

"Being a Republican who is of Hispanic descent hasn't been very difficult for me," Ernani, a senior, tells MassNews. "I think younger, better-educated Latinos are a lot less partisan than the generation of Latinos that grew up in the 1960s and '70s. So we, like most Americans in our age group, look for the political figures who best serve our needs and don't vote the straight partisan tickets like our parents might have.

"Latinos are such a diverse group racially, ethnically, and economically, it is understandable that there will be conservatives, moderates and liberals just like in the general U.S. population.

"Since many of us come from immigrant families, I would think most Latinos support fair, humane immigration policies," says Ernani, who grew up in East Boston and went to public school, and thanks to Head Start, to Boston Latin School before coming to Harvard.

"This has been an issue supported greatly by the Bush administration and also by the free market, economic conservatives of the Republican Party. But that issue aside, we share the beliefs of the rest of America regarding better education, more good-paying jobs and quality healthcare.

"I foresee Hispanics mirroring the ascent of other ethnic groups, such as the Italians and Irish, in the next 20 to 30 years. You'll see Hispanic leaders in both political parties advocating not just for Latinos or Catholics but for all Americans."