ClydeR
10-04-2011, 11:07 AM
Marco Rubio needs to get control of this story, and he needs to do it quickly.
Three top Florida Hispanic Republicans are calling on the national GOP and their party's presidential candidates to boycott a proposed Univision debate amid allegations that the Spanish-language television network tried to "extort" Sen. Marco Rubio.
In a letter Monday to the Republican National Committee, U.S. Rep. David Rivera and state Reps. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Erik Fresen also demanded that Univision apologize and fire its news president, Isaac Lee.
The controversy revolves around a Miami Herald story on Sunday in which staffers from Rubio's office and the network said that Lee offered to soften or kill a story about a decades-old drug bust of Rubio's brother-in-law if the Republican senator sat down for an interview — where he'd likely be asked to defend his conservative position on immigration.
Lee and Univision officials, who could not be immediately reached to respond to Monday's letter, last week denied the reports about a quid-pro-quo offer to Rubio.
But the Miami lawmakers don't believe it. They said that the 24-year-old story about Rubio's relative ran only when after the senator rebuffed Univision.
More... (http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/republicans-want-presidential-candidates-to-boycott-tv-station-they-say/1195082)
The hoopla is firmly rooted in the issue of immigration.
Cuban Americans, who have special immigration rights, tend to be more conservative than other Hispanics and therefore less inclined to favor more liberal policies, such as those espoused by the likes of Univision personality Jorge Ramos.
Ramos, who hosted a 2008 presidential debate for Univision, has advocated for the so-called "DREAM Act" and hosts the show Al Punto, To the Point. Rubio has called the proposed act "amnesty" and had refused to appear on Al Punto for months. Al Punto is one of the top-rated shows for Univision, a power-house network that reaches nearly every Hispanic household in a nation that's growing more Hispanic by the day.
"Univision did not offer to soften or spike a story about a major drug bust involving Senator Rubio's relatives," Lee said in a written statement furnished to The Herald. "We would not make such an offer to any other subject of a news story and did not offer it in this case. We had various participants on the call with Senator Rubio's office for the off-the-record discussion about the story, including two of our top internal legal counsels."
Is this call for boycott really coming from Rubio through his emissaries? If Rubio is going to be the VP, he has to learn to pick his fights.
And what's this business about special immigration rights? I don't like special rights.
Did you know that Walt Disney's last act in this life was to scribble Kurt Russell's name on a piece of paper?
Three top Florida Hispanic Republicans are calling on the national GOP and their party's presidential candidates to boycott a proposed Univision debate amid allegations that the Spanish-language television network tried to "extort" Sen. Marco Rubio.
In a letter Monday to the Republican National Committee, U.S. Rep. David Rivera and state Reps. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Erik Fresen also demanded that Univision apologize and fire its news president, Isaac Lee.
The controversy revolves around a Miami Herald story on Sunday in which staffers from Rubio's office and the network said that Lee offered to soften or kill a story about a decades-old drug bust of Rubio's brother-in-law if the Republican senator sat down for an interview — where he'd likely be asked to defend his conservative position on immigration.
Lee and Univision officials, who could not be immediately reached to respond to Monday's letter, last week denied the reports about a quid-pro-quo offer to Rubio.
But the Miami lawmakers don't believe it. They said that the 24-year-old story about Rubio's relative ran only when after the senator rebuffed Univision.
More... (http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/republicans-want-presidential-candidates-to-boycott-tv-station-they-say/1195082)
The hoopla is firmly rooted in the issue of immigration.
Cuban Americans, who have special immigration rights, tend to be more conservative than other Hispanics and therefore less inclined to favor more liberal policies, such as those espoused by the likes of Univision personality Jorge Ramos.
Ramos, who hosted a 2008 presidential debate for Univision, has advocated for the so-called "DREAM Act" and hosts the show Al Punto, To the Point. Rubio has called the proposed act "amnesty" and had refused to appear on Al Punto for months. Al Punto is one of the top-rated shows for Univision, a power-house network that reaches nearly every Hispanic household in a nation that's growing more Hispanic by the day.
"Univision did not offer to soften or spike a story about a major drug bust involving Senator Rubio's relatives," Lee said in a written statement furnished to The Herald. "We would not make such an offer to any other subject of a news story and did not offer it in this case. We had various participants on the call with Senator Rubio's office for the off-the-record discussion about the story, including two of our top internal legal counsels."
Is this call for boycott really coming from Rubio through his emissaries? If Rubio is going to be the VP, he has to learn to pick his fights.
And what's this business about special immigration rights? I don't like special rights.
Did you know that Walt Disney's last act in this life was to scribble Kurt Russell's name on a piece of paper?