Jeb Bush Speaks Good Spanish, His Wife Speaks Poor
English, in New Video
by Neil Munro 15 Sep 2015
Gov. Jeb Bush has
released a Spanish-language Internet ad, in which his Mexican-born wife makes
her first appearance of the campaign to deliver a halting, accented and simple
English pitch, while he speaks happily in confident Spanish.
Columba Bush rarely speaks in public, and English is not her
native language. She was born in Mexico, and moved to the United States with
Jeb Bush.
Her 15-second scripted comments are very simple. “I
have lived more than half my life here. So, you know, I agree that we all have
the same interests, the same feelings. We go to church every Sunday. We have
celebrations with the family. We keep our traditions. You know, but at the end
it’s just that, you know, faith, friends and family.”
In contrast, Bush smiles broadly as he speaks Spanish
throughout the 1 minute video.
Todos Somos Americanos
Columba can speak English. But she’s much more confident when
speaking in Spanish.
In 2003, she gave a heavily-accented
speech on anti-drug measures.
In 1998, she spoke well and pleasantly — in Spanish — for a
Bush campaign ad.
Jeb Bush for Governor (Columbia Bush)
In 2011, she spoke animatedly and well when giving a Spanish-language
tour of the Florida governor’s mansion.
Columba’s limited English-language abilities may hurt Bush’s
outreach to GOP voters. Polls show Bush stuck below 10 percent in New
Hampshire, at 5 percent in Iowa, and 8.5 percent in South Carolina.
In the new Spanish-language campaign ad, Bush praises
migrant Latinos’ foreign culture, which is distinctly different from American’s
English-language culture. “Pari mi, la cultura
Hispana es muy importante y positiva,” said Bush, who is a
candidate for the presidency of the United States of America.
“For me, Hispanic culture is very important and
positive.”
“Los Hispanos contribuyen cada dia mas a nuestra cultura,
son parte integral del sueno Americano,” said Bush, who described himself as
Hispanic in a 2009
registration form.
“Hispanics contribute every day more to our culture [and]
are an integral part of the American dream.”
“Pos esos motivos y ms, yo los invito a que celebren el mes
de la herencia Hispana, porque todos somos Americanos,” said Bush, who is the
descendent of white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants ancestors.
“For these reasons and more, I invite you to celebrate
the Hispanic Heritage Month because we are all Americans.”
Bush’s foreign-language outreach to the Latino slice of U.S.
voters is unlikely to yield any benefits on the campaign trail. Most
Hispanic voters are concentrated in a few Democratic-dominated states, and they tend to back the
Democratic Party.
In contrast, most of the GOP’s Latino support comes from third-generation
Hispanics, many of whom consider themselves core Americans, speak
English and worry about their neighborhoods and schools being damaged by the
inflow of low-skill migrants who can’t speak English.
The GOP’s 2012 candidate, Mitt Romney, would have had to win
73
percent of the concentrated Hispanic turnout to flip enough states
to win the 2012 election, unless he also increased his share of core voters,
who comprise 70 percent of the electorate.
In 2012, Romney won 27 percent of the Latino vote, only slightly
below Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) 43%’s 32 percent in 2008.
Polls show that Bush’s rival, Donald Trump, is getting up to
31 percent support among Hispanic voters, largely because of his optimistic,
post-racial pitch to all Americans.
Trump has also-tweaked Bush for his “dog whistle” to Latino
voters. “I like Jeb,” Trump told Breitbart News.
“He’s a nice man. But he should really set the example by speaking English
while in the United States.”
Bush subsequently tried to defend his narrow pitch to
Spanish-speaking voters, including his decision to speak Spanish to an young
American student, and his emotional commitment to Latino culture.
“[T]hese young beautiful kids all speak English but also
speak Spanish and one of them asked me a question in Spanish and I answered it.
That’s the reality of America, that’s the goodness of America. That’s the kind
of America we want,” he said, echoing his fervent support for the fracturing of
the culturally coherent United States into a myriad rival cultural identities.
“This is a diverse country,” Bush insisted. “We should
celebrate that diversity and embrace a set of shared values.”
In fact, academic studies show that social variety — or
government-imposed cultural diversity — damages trust
and civic cooperation, and also undermines the health
of minorities, such as African-Americans and Latinos.
However, diversity is good for governments and well-educated
professionals — including media professionals — because it increases demand for
the oversight, regulation, mediation and repair of proliferating social
conflicts. It also provides a pool of cheap, unorganized labor for companies
and for professionals seeking to hire domestic servants.
Mexico
Ernesto
Zedillo was the president of Mexico,
and a board member for the International
Crisis Group.
Note: Mexico Senate
is the upper legislative body for Mexico.
DLA
Piper was the lobby firm for the Mexico
Senate.
Scott
Horton is of counsel at DLA Piper,
and was an attorney for the Open Society
Foundations.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress, and the Economic Policy Institute.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a board member for the International Crisis Group, was a
supporter for the Center for American
Progress, and the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the Aspen Institute (think tank),
and the Economic Policy Institute.
Tom Daschle
is the chairman for the Center for
American Progress, was a senior policy adviser at DLA Piper, and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
DLA
Piper was the lobby firm for the Mexico
Senate.
Tom C. Korologos
is a strategic adviser for DLA Piper,
and is married to Ann McLaughlin
Korologos.
Ann
McLaughlin Korologos is married to Tom
C. Korologos, a director at the Harman
International Industries, Inc., and was the chair emeritus for the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Berl
Bernhard is a partner at DLA Piper,
and was the chairman for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Sidney
Harman was the chairman for the Harman
International Industries, Inc., and a trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank).
Jane Lakes Harman
is a stockholder at Harman International
Industries, Inc., and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Frederic V. Malek
is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), the chairman for the American Action Forum, a member of the Alfalfa Club, and the founder &
board member for the American Action
Network.
Jeb
Bush was a board member for the American
Action Forum, is a member of the Alfalfa
Club, an advisory committee member for the Hispanic Leadership Network, and a director at the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
Hispanic
Leadership Network is an offshoot of the American Action Network.
Bloomberg
Family Foundation was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Rockefeller
Foundation was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank), the Economic Policy Institute, and the Center for American Progress.
Raul Yzaguirre
was a director at the Economic Policy
Institute, and the president & CEO for the National Council of La Raza.
Tom Daschle is the chairman for
the Center for American Progress, was
a senior policy adviser at DLA Piper,
and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
DLA
Piper was the lobby firm for the Mexico
Senate.
Mexico Senate
is the upper legislative body for Mexico.
Ernesto Zedillo
was the president of Mexico, and a board
member for the International Crisis
Group.
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