Miami mayor, family talk Hispanic GOP politics
The presidential candidate who wins a few key swing states in November is likely to win the election. Florida is one of them along with Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico. And the pivotal group in those states is Hispanics.
In Miami, CBS News wanted to hear what Hispanic Republicans are thinking. "Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley caught up with Tomas Regalado.
He's the mayor of Miami. A former reporter -- which the people here apparently didn't hold against him because he won by a margin of 72 percent.
In Little Havana, at Versailles, known for political debate as much as Cuban food, Pelley sat down with Mayor Regalado; his daughter Raquel, a school board member; son Tommy, a reporter; and son, Jose an undersea photographer. Republicans all, as you might guess, among Cuban Americans.
Mayor Regalado: "I am very upset at Washington because they decide to cut and they look at numbers, not at faces. I do think that the federal government should take care of their own people instead of going out and spending billions throughout the world."
Pelley: "What would you like to hear from the Republican candidates that you haven't heard already?"
Jose: "Specifics. Actually ways to solve an issue, not just rhetoric."
Raquel: "Our economy is based on tourism and construction. We would like to hear more discussions about foreclosures, more discussions for what's going to happen with bank regulations."
Tommy: "If they can get back to the basics, if they can talk and give a complete plan of saying, 'This is what I'm going to do the day I walk in.'"
Mayor Regalado: "I will tell you that I do my groceries every week. And I would totally vote for a president that could tell me how much is a gallon of milk."
Pelley: "You don't think these candidates are in touch with the people who put you in the mayor's office?"
Mayor Regalado: "No. I don't think so. I think that they go by polls. And that's the problem that I think we have in this country."
Pelley: "So when you hear the Republican debate, what are you hearing the candidates saying?"
Mayor Regalado: "Not much, actually. Because I think that we need to have a conversation about immigration. No one wants to address this issue. But Miami is what the United States will be 25 years from now."
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Pelley: "What do you mean by that?"
Mayor Regalado: "I mean that there is no way that we will be able to send back the millions and millions of people that we have in the United States. These people are going throughout the country. They're having babies. Nothing we can do about it."
Pelley: "When you hear the Republican candidates talking about immigration, and being tough on immigration, how does that strike your ear?"
Raquel: "You have to sort of have a deeper conversation about immigration and immigration reform. It's not all the same. You just can't say the same thing applies to everyone. So it hurts us when the immigration debate turns into an anti-Hispanic, 'everyone's absolutely the same.' Because it's disrespectful to our contribution to the United States."
