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Republicans and Their Amigos

GOP no longer stands for the gringos-only party.

Nov 25, 2002, Vol. 8, No. 11 • By TAMAR JACOBY
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NEW YORK
DOMINICAN BUSINESSMAN Fernando Mateo spent Election Day driving around New York City, getting out the vote for George Pataki. The Dominican community is among the poorest in New York, and it has traditionally been one of the nation's most reliably left-leaning. Still, Mateo is convinced that it is up for grabs politically. He is building his political future among the smallest of small-time entrepreneurs: the Dominicans who own and drive most of the city's non-medallion taxis. And in the week before the election, he visited 150 storefront dispatchers, using their two-way radios to urge both drivers and passengers to go to the polls. All kinetic energy and optimism, he drove along one of the broad boulevards of the South Bronx and pointed to a row of neighborhood businesses--bodegas, money-wiring services, travel agencies, and the like. "Look," he gestured, "these entrepreneurs are natural Republicans. They may not know it yet. But all we have to do is explain it to them."

Mateo is far from the only Republican with this dream. The party has been talking about appealing to Latinos for 20 years now, and some consultants, including Bush pollster Matthew Dowd, have argued that unless the GOP can significantly increase its share of this vote, to a reliable 40 percent, the party will be doomed to oblivion. So the stakes could hardly have been higher this month--and the Republicans passed with flying colors. But that doesn't mean the game is over--or even that everyone in the party understands what has to be done to consolidate a win.

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