Ted Cruz, reluctant Latino trailblazer

*The fact that Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have gone farther than any other Latino presidential candidate gives them the title of trailblazer. It’s the “Latino” identity part that complicates matters. They’re both of Cuban descent, so they fit the basic definition of “Latino.” The trouble is that not many U.S. Latinos are rushing to claim them as their own. Think about this: the top three GOP vote-getters are a billionaire who attracted a following by insulting Latinos, and two Latinos who most of the people in their own cultural community don’t identify with. The Cuban-American experiences is  a parenthetical story withing the larger U.S. Latino narrative. And the Cruz and Rubio platforms are not in line with the majority of U.S. Latinos. Cruz isn’t running as a Latino presidential candidate, he’s running as an anti-establishement candidate. Yet, by surface definitions he and Rubio are Latino and trailblazers. VL


Fox_News_LatinoBy Alberto Vourvoulias-Bush, Fox News Latino

Ted Cruz has made Latino history. By winning the GOP caucus in Iowa, the Texas Senator has become the first Latino candidate to win a major party caucus in a state that is not their own. The irony of Cruz’s Latino milestone is, of course, that he does not think of himself as Latino.

But Iowa, last night, was good to more than one Latino. By coming in a close third, and by dint of being the last establishment friendly Republican standing, Senator Marco Rubio of Texas, has also placed himself in the position of being able to win primaries further down the line, and join Cruz as a Hispanic trailblazer. Unlike Cruz, Rubio does identify himself as Hispanic, and as a proud heir to the great American immigrant dream.

Cruz, and Rubio too, have come further than any Latino politician has before them.

Click HERE to read the full story.


[Photo by Marc Nozell/Flickr]

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