Political Hotsheet
By

Stephanie Condon /

CBS News/ April 16, 2012, 1:51 PM

GOP: Obama campaign seeing a "mirage" if they think Arizona is in play

Thousands of protesters rally at the Arizona Capitol

Thousands of protesters rally at the Arizona Capitol on Sunday, April, 25, 2010.

/ AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

The Republican National Committee is taking significant steps to expand its Hispanic voter outreach in a handful of key states -- but Arizona isn't one of them, in spite of the Obama campaign's intentions to turn the traditionally "red state" into a "blue state" this year.

"My view is the Obama team is setting up a mirage that somehow Arizona is going to be in play or a battleground," RNC chairman Reince Priebus told reporters Monday. "It's a Republican state, it's a red state -- obviously, it's not going to be ignored, but to put it in the category of a battleground state is a mindset we're not adhering to right now."

Priebus announced today that by the end of April, the RNC will have Hispanic State Directors in six of battleground states: Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia.

Priebus said the state directors will work state and local officials to recruit and engage activists at the community level and create long-lasting relationships with Hispanics "like we never have before." The relationships created "will continue for many electoral cycles to come," he added.

The state directors, Priebus continued, are part of "a very concerted, technical, detailed effort in turning out Hispanic voters for the Republican nominee." He declined to say how much the RNC is investing in the effort, but called the figure "substantial."

The goal of the state directors will be to cater to the unique concerns and characteristics of the Latino communities in their respective states, but they'll deliver a unified message -- in both English and Spanish -- of economic opportunity, the party said.

CBSNews.com special section: Campaign 2012

Latinos are bearing the brunt of the "Obama economy," Priebus said, citing an unemployment rate higher than the national average and a recent Tarrance Group poll showing that a majority of Hispanics believe the country is on the wrong track.

"Latinos are clamoring for change, and the Republican party is here to offer them that change," Priebus said.

Priebus also said that Latinos should be fed up with the president over immigration as well, because he failed to follow through on his campaign promises to enact immigration reform and the Dream Act -- even when Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and control of the House. The RNC chairman said the president proved he was either "lying" or "grossly negligent" on the issue of immigration.

Immigration has proven to be a dicey issue for the Republican party as it adopts policies at the state level that many Latinos perceive as hostile, such as SB 1070 in Arizona. But those state laws, Priebus said, come "as a result of Obama not leading."

That's not the way the Obama campaign sees it: Democrats think Arizona's growing Latino population and the backlash against SB 1070 gives the president a possible opening there -- even if the state is still a longshot. The president's re-election campaign is mobilizing workers across the state to register student and Latino voters, the New York Times reports. If they make progress in the next three months, they'll keep up the efforts to possibly make the reliably Republican state competitive in the fall.

"It is going to be a swing state," said Obama campaign manager Jim Messina told the Times. "The question is, whether we can get enough people registered to put it in play this year."

While Priebus called such questions a "mirage," other groups are also anticipating that demographic changes will put the state in play.

A new liberal super PAC called PAC+ -- which is focused on engaging minority voters -- plans to invest in Arizona this year, calling it a "tipping state."

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
17 Comments Add a Comment
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emsusu says:
This country has nothing to fear from the crooked man who fails. It is the crooked man who succeeds who is a threat to this country. Choose our representatives wisely.Immigration is how the U.S.A. began and "We the People" made laws to live by. Immigrants for over 200 years have learned to live by.No man is above the law and no man is below the law, nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it. Obedience of the law is demanded; not asked as a favor.
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Shibbol says:
Arizona GOP: Enjoy the moment. This may be the last election cycle that Arizona is red if it does at all. The GOP still lives in the Bush bubble that is trying hard to make everyone forget the tragedy of two ridiculous wars, an economic meltdown, and thirty years of downslide for the US middle class. Don't think that will sell now or in November.
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marychgo says:
The RNC's Priebus is whistling past the graveyard. No matter how many "Hispanic state directors" he appoints, the GOP is NOT going to win the votes of Latinos -- or other people of color or women or people who make less than $50,000 a year. We lived through the Reagan and Bush administrations. We recognize Romney's campaign as a pure retread of the policies that produced the Crash of 2008. Those policies made the rich richer and screwed everyone else; we definitely don't need four more years of "trickle down" and deregulation and the winner-take-all greed Republicans seem to love.

For those who scream about "illegals," the electorate includes millions of Latinos who have as much right to vote as you do! Do you suppose they might be offended when you assume anyone with a Spanish-language surname is "illegal"? Many (more enlightened) states permit felons who've completed their sentences to vote, so you can't assume any "felon" who votes is committing vote fraud.
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Daves1221 says:
Evidence is accumulating on the issue of Voter fraud, that although Attorney General Eric Holder stated, "that Voter Fraud is nonexistent" many state election commissions of finding out the hard way that they are not exempt from the problem. Under the present federal law there are no real barriers to illegal aliens voting, the dead, felons or people who do not even live in any particular precinct district have been found in the election rolls. The right of citizens voting is one of our greatest assets, but more and more events are materializing across the country that even illegal aliens are registering. The Liberal press will keep this type of issue in under the wraps, with the fact is that the majority of violations belong to the Democratic officials. These people have just ignored or deliberately allowed foreign nationals to vote, without any regress?

Voters must discharge the Politicians, Governors, Mayors, special interest groups and the whole blend of elected officials that are harboring foreign nationals, who have implemented Sanctuary cities ordinances, who have driven policies of the Dream Acts, Chain migration ID Theft, Voter Fraud and other catastrophic Comprehensive Reform packages. But more important than anything else is to remove this President before drives us into further debt, which we cannot possibly survive. Our voting privileges are not safe anymore, from groups like ACORN involved with voter fraud. Investigative reporter James O'Keefe rendered has proven without doubt that prepared hordes of illegal "voters" can extensively damage the results of elections throughout the nation, just by claiming the identities of registered voters in those particular districts. Most Senators and House members are delinquent in stopping voter fraud, ID theft that seems to have no ending. Is there no politician out there with a backbone to introduce a citizens ID verification card? Not just for voting, but applying for welfare benefits, drivers licenses and auto insurance and even to seek work? Or are Americans going to be intimidated by the special interest groups, trade unions, the church and the minority radical organizations who think everybody should have the right to vote.

TIME IS ALSO OF THE ESSENSE TO BOMBARD THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP TO SPONSOR " H.R. 2885 - Chairman Smith's 'Legal Workforce Act' While Republican leaders of the House continue to block a vote on a national mandatory E-Verify bill, the Obama Administration has issued a statement that it is getting E-Verify ready to handle a big development, as the DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) is Preparing for a 50-state Mandatory E-Verify Law.

ATTENTION MITT ROMNEY, IF YOU WANT TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY, INFORM THE PUBLIC OF VOTER FRAUD, THE ACORN ORGANIZATION AND ALL THE OTHER GROUPS WHO WANT OPEN BORDERS UNDER THE REIGN OF BARACK OBAMA ARE IN OPERATION AGAIN. OBAMA HAS ISSUED HIS ULTIMATUM OF WHICH HE WILL PASS AMNESTY IF HE WINS A SECOND TERM TO THE WHITE HOUSE. THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF IMMIGRATION REFORM (FAIR), THAT A SECOND AMNESTY WILL COST TAXPAYERS $2.4 TRILLION DOLLARS TO FINALIZE IN SUBSIDES AND RETIREMENT. A 2013 AMNESTY WILL ATTRACT EVEN MORE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AND INVITE YET ANOTHER MASSIVE INFLUX OF PEOPLE THROUGH CHAIN MIGRATION.

All 50 states and every voting precinct in America need to check their election rolls, as Non-citizen voting is a Federal felony and should be prosecuted? Some places that are currently involved in prosecution of Voter fraud and other instances of corrupted elections is in Sunland, New Mexico, the city of Vernon, California, South Bend, Indiana, Troy, New York and that's just a few states involved in voter fraud. With no real oversight, how many more voter fraud incidents has escaped detection? One Naples, Florida voter admitted she was not a U.S. Citizen, nor a legal immigrant, but election records show she voted six times in the past eleven years. Voter fraud has boomeranged in the last decade and when illegal aliens admit they have voted multiple times and not sitting in prison, something is seriously wrong with our election system?

In this monumental voting year, non-citizens voting could affect the final battle in November. Even at the local level elections have been compromised. Using every piece of oral weaponry the Democrats do not want any changes to the Board of Election laws, evoking the usual rhetoric of racial profiling or the greatest ally that has divided the country branded 'Political Correctness'. Every American Citizen should insist that new regulations be applied, that includes either an official picture ID or a federal issued biometric national ID card. With all the waste and corruption in Washington, every American citizen should be issued an identification document, similar to immigration and naturalization 'Green Cards' Granted to permanent residents.
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Daves1221 says:
The U.S. citizenry must come forward and must connect with the TEA PARTY "THE PEOPLE'S PARTY" to stop the erosion of legal rights, which are being reduced by this administration. Remember the TEA PARTY is tens of millions of patriotic members in chapters across our nation. This political splinter group from the GOP does not discriminate against any race, color, religion as long as you entered the United States legally. Both parties have abused immigration enforcement, by neglecting to secure the border fence and the incompetence of acknowledging that ID theft is out of control, that every illegal alien is committing a felony by using a U.S. victim's Social security number and identity in the majority of cases, but nothing has been accomplished to halt these financial issue.

You forget that illegal aliens, who file a tax return, get the money back because they don't earn enough in most cases. In addition, illegal aliens are very well versed in fraudulently stealing people's ID and then getting reimbursed with the victim's tax money. They have also figured out to get reimbursed for non-existent tax child payouts, to the tune of $4 billion plus dollars a year.
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TimeToEvolve says:
Robmee is the weakest Republicon candidate since 1984. And since he and the whole lousy Republicon Party of the Top 1% is trying to prove they have everyone except rich white men, then any state is in play.
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kevjustice says:
with mitt EVERY STATE IS IN PLAY! EXCEPT UTAH! the more people hear mitt the more they dislike him-most news broadcasts say this(not just msnbc) lol! MR ETCH A SKETCH invented obamacare and obama just copied it. mr etch a sketch is the greatest flip flopper in history and makes john kerry look consistant! even some conservatives do not trust the flip flopper!
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koko98-2009 says:
If McCain were not on the ticket Arizona is ripe for the picking since the Rebpublicans can't seem to be nice to the ******** errr
LATINOS.
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MarkAnderso says:
Ah, what an imbecile Priebus is. Who killed the immigration reform, 100% of the Republican party, does he really think he can change Hispanic minds about that. What a lying fool.
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SD92040 says:
Of course it's not in play. Most of the country is already locked up for Romney. Obama has been an utter failure that has no chance. He can only count on the idiot vote.
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MarkAnderso replies:
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I'll make a $10,000 bet on that one.
koko98-2009 replies:
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Then idiots make up about 54% of the country which is what Obama will get in November.
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