There are almost 12 million potential Hispanic voters in the United States. And both parties say they are eager to court their votes. So one has to wonder why the Republican presidential contenders would miss the chance to debate before the largest possible audience of Spanish-language television viewers.
This month, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman Jr., Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich said they would not participate in a debate on Univision tentatively scheduled for Jan. 29, before Florida’s Republican primary. Instead, they are expected to debate in December on NBC’s Telemundo, which has less than a third of Univision’s typical evening audience.
The move came after allies of Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, asked them to boycott the Univision debate. Mr. Rubio has been feuding with the network over a report it did last summer about his brother-in-law, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 1989. According to The Miami Herald, Mr. Rubio’s staff charged that Univision tried to use the report to pressure the senator into agreeing to go on its Sunday news program. The staff said the network offered to drop the story in exchange for the interview. Univision denies that.
After the call to boycott went out, the Perry campaign sent a letter to Univision saying he would not participate in a debate until Univision corrected its “ethical breach.” Mr. Romney’s campaign said he would not participate “unless and until Univision satisfactorily addresses this situation.” A spokeswoman for Representative Bachmann wrote that “we reserve our right to participate in the Univision debate pending a positive resolution of this matter by Univision.”
There are many reasons why the candidates would want to keep Mr. Rubio happy. Florida is a must-win state, and he is a political comer and a darling of the Tea Party. But there may be an additional explanation for their move.
The candidates will be asked about immigration whatever Spanish-language network they are on. But on Univision they were to be questioned by Jorge Ramos, a Mexican-American anchor who has been harshly critical of policies to crack down on undocumented immigrants and openly supports a path to legalization. On Telemundo, they will face its less hard-charging host, Jose Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American who is the brother of two powerful Florida Republicans, Representative Mario Diaz-Balart and former Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Mr. Rubio, who is the son of Cuban immigrants and opposes “amnesty,” has been happy to go on the show of Mr. Diaz-Balart, who has treated him with kid gloves and defended him from his critics. So far, the senator has declined to be interviewed by Mr. Ramos.
by Mark Sumner: Why not debate on the much more popular Univision? First off, they had the bad taste to tell the truth about a drug conviction in Marco Rubio's family. Secondly, Univision may be too popular. Republicans don't want to be seen answering questions about immigration in a forum where they don't feel free to kick an electric fence and a few alligators into their answer.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
