(Richardson hamming it up with rotting war criminal Henry Kissinger)
(Colbert with a bear)
In another clear sign that Latinos need to get with the funny thing, a recent poll found that political satirist Stephen Colbert leads veteran politico Bill Richardson among likely voters in next year’s Presidential race. The poll of 1000 voters by Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm, has Colbert winning 2.3 percent of the vote while Richardson takes 2.1 percent according to a blog at the Washington Post.
The main conclusion we should draw from this is that humor beats “Hispanic” (as opposed to “Latino”). It also points to the fact that we are, without a doubt, well into the media age, an age in which a lifetime of politics can be trumped by a couple of successful seasons in the TV and multimedia sphere. But his (Richardson’s) panic should not be our (his)panic. Richardson is the best representative of Latino politics only if your definition of politics extends as far as the border of elections and electoral politics.
Speaking of borders, did I tell you the one about how I once asked Governor Richardson how he could speak as an immigrant ‘advocate’ when he was among the first to unleash the National Guard because of a “border emergency” due to immigration? He avoided the question -but with a smile. On top of that, his not-so-funny role in the racist purge leading to the ruin of accused Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee should give some of us all the more reason to greet this candidate’s performance with a Simon-like American Idol thumbs down. Maybe it’s not too late to build a “Sanjaya for President!” movement.
But, until that hallowed moment in hair history arrives, it’s time to yell, “Que viva Stephen Colbert!”
