HispanicBusiness

American society today is unsettled amid
complicated, as well as beset by challenging
economic times.

How will the nation's perplexed mood play
out in the mid-term congressional elections
November 2nd?

"With millions unemployed, millions more underemployed,
a vicious recession in the recent past and a possible 'double dip,'
people are focused on the bread and butter of their lives," said
Larry Sabato, director of the UVA Center for Politics at the
University of Virginia. "Even if Democrats are blameless, they
are the party in power. Voting against them is a logical response
from weary, unhappy citizens who have run out of patience,"
Dr. Sabato told HispanicBusiness Magazine.

President Barack Obama hopes voters take a broad view to
the polls. "From day one, this administration has focused on
reversing nearly a decade's worth of failed economic policies that
helped cause the worst recession since the Great Depression,"
Luis Miranda said from the White House press office.

Disenfranchised Hispanics
With an unemployment rate of more than 12 percent (2.5 percent above the overall average) count Hispanics among the
nation's disenchanted. Still, how rebellious might the fastestgrowing
U.S. electoral bloc be against the Democratic Party
they supported in 2008?

Hortensia Gomez Ortiz in Phoenix, Ariz., thinks Hispanics
still favor Democrats, but many lack the enthusiasm to vote in
November. "President Obama told us he has a plan but that it
would not work overnight. He's not a magician," said Ortiz, who
is an offi cer with LULAC Council 1083 in North Phoenix.

Politically, the overarching battle to be resolved is control
of Congress. Democrats have controlled both chambers since
2007. What's at stake for income-starved Americans is when
will the economy decisively recover.

Election results will determine the "path to jobs in the future,"
said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. President Obama has
actively courted Labor. He asserts that restoring the economy is
his "most urgent task" even while conceding that getting people
back to work "will be diffi cult."

Increasingly scorned, Democrats assert that it will take more
than two years to recover from a disastrous course set by the
Bush administration from 2001-2008.

Republicans claim that Democrats are lost far out on the left field, and that they recklessly throw money at problems. "What
Republicans want to do is move forward and lower taxes, reduce
our deficit and create jobs," said Joanna Burgos, spokesperson
for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "They
want middle-class families to keep more of their hard-earned
money."

It's the same empty Republican rhetoric, suggests Vice
President Joe Biden. "They (voters) know the mess we inherited."
Th e administration proposes further tax cuts plus more loans
to small businesses to create jobs. It accuses Republicans of
opposing legislation simply to deny progress to Democrats.

Seats in Play
Little more than 70 House seats are considered competitive
by the non-partisan Cook Political Report. Reuters says 16
Senate races are competitive.

The Cook report predicts a net gain
for Republicans of 35 to 45 seats in the
House (the GOP needs a turnover of 39
to secure a majority). According to the
Cook report, the GOP will likely gain five
to seven seats, leaving them just shy of a
majority.

Republicans think reclaiming majorities
in both chambers is within reach. "We