The Cuban-American Vote in a Climate of Mis-Information. By SunshineUnderground

One man told me in no uncertain terms that Obama was a Muslim, terrorist sympathiser, who has a cousin that is some kind of mass-murderer in Africa. The man also told me that there will be breadlines within a year if Obama is elected.


We have two examples of Cuban-American, presidential candidate support: On the one hand is a photo of Clelia Hernandez and her mother, Leyda Vidal, at the Obama rally Wednesday in Sunrise. On the other, the blog, 305 has some shots, like the one shown left, of anti-Obama signs made by Cuban-American hardliners (hit on image to enlarge).

So how will the Cuban-American community vote, and will the much ballyhooed shift in the younger generation make a difference? Clelia thinks so: "My mother and I agree that the younger generation of Cuban-Americans are supporting Obama and the majority of us will be voting for him," she wrote in an email, "although most are likely to not openly express their political views in part because it can contradict their parents' beliefs."

This weekend I had to chance to interview, in Spanish, some Cuban-American McCain supporters at a picnic for Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and I asked them what they thought about the presidential race. They were mostly senior citizens and seemed sincerely frightened by the prospect of Obama winning. One man told me in no uncertain terms that Obama was a Muslim, terrorist sympathiser, who has a cousin that is some kind of mass-murderer in Africa. The man also told me that there will be breadlines within a year if Obama is elected. As he spoke, the group at our table murmured in agreement. I didn't ask his name because while his views were off-kilter, he still seemed like a nice old man and I didn't want to subject him to ridicule, even if it was on a site that he won't read and has probably never heard of.

After he was done speaking, a woman who said she was from Spain, and who gave her name as Francisca, took the mic, and said something that I think makes sense of some of the craziness we've seen this last few weeks. "They are very afraid, and I think you can understand that because they've been through a lot."

It's a thought worth keeping in mind when you see some of the more extreme elements out there.

Also see Gimleteye's post: Older Cuban American voters and Obama.