Tequila Party Launches To Promote Latino Votes In 2012
Somos Republicans founder DeeDee García Blase has taken up the reins of the so-called Tequila Party movement that originated in Nevada to combat the Tea Party and launched today in an effort to get Latino voters fired up for the 2012 election. The movement is non-partisan, she tells News Taco, and her hope is that the Tequila Party will be successful in turning out Latino voters and to combat the stereotype that Latinos don’t care to vote.
García Blase is the president of the Tequila Party, and founder Fernando Romero of Nevada has joined her and others to put together what she tells us is a series of events, such as concerts, that will lead up to the 2012 election to get Latinos excited about voting. These events, she says, will take place across the country in Latino population centers from Claifornia to Texas to Utah to Wisconsin to New York and Florida.
Although she is herself a Republican, García Blase is emphatic that the Tequila Party is meant to be non-partisan, that organizers are supposed to be bipartisan, and that since most Latinos vote Democrat, “we’d be stupid not to do that.” Additionally, she notes that on day 1 of the Tequila Party launch, she’s already received plenty of anti-Latino push back she says comes from the Tea Party — including a woman who claimed the movement was trying to get people without documentation to vote.
The point, García Blase says, is “Let’s overcome that perception that’s out there (that Latinos don’t vote) and let’s prove ‘em wrong!” For more info visit Facebook.
A Somos Republicans press release notes:
The purpose of the Tequila Party tour is to encourage Latinos across the nation to participate in the upcoming 2012 elections.
Politicians have communicated to us loud and clear that Latinos typically do not do well at the polls. It is one of our objectives to change that. We believe the national tour is imperative because Latinos should be encouraged to participate in the early ballot system, and we need to be consistent and better primary election voters, as well as better general election voters.
More recently, we have witnessed a culture clash in Tucson, Arizona over the ethnic studies debate. Increased hate crimes towards Latinos have elevated within the last year all over the nation. One of the goals of the Tequila Party Tour is to counter negative views with positive ones as we celebrate our culture with festivities all over the nation thru November 2nd, 2012.
The Tequila Party will have events free and open to the public, concerts, VIP dinners with special guest speakers. Lionel Sosa, former Hispanic advisor to Ronald Reagan will be our featured guest speaker in the State of Texas.
Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD
