From the Kaine Campaign:
Join Governor Bill Richardson and Tim Kaine on Wednesday, October 26 at 5:00 PM in Annandale as they rally Kaine supporters for the final 13 days before Election Day. Your support will help push Tim over the finish line and keep Virginia moving forward.What: Multicultural Rally Featuring Governor Bill Richardson and Tim Kaine
Where: Poe Middle School Cafeteria
7000 Cindy Lane
Annandale, VA 22003
When: Wednesday, October 26, 5:00 PMClick Here to RSVP for the Event.
Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico will be in Annandale tomorrow to rally support for Tim Kaine. Richardson is the only sitting hispanic governor in the nation. On November 8, Tim Kaine's election may change that.
While Tim Kaine is Irish by blood, ideologically and culturally he may have as much right to the honorific "Virgnia's First Hispanic Governor", as Bill Clinton had to the title "America's First Black President."
Fluent in spanish, and well traveled in the spanish-speaking world, Tim Kaine became intimately familiar with the lives, history and experience of Latinos while working as christian missionary in Honduras. In his own words:
Llegu? a Honduras en Septiembre de 1980, y viv? con misioneros Jesuitas en un peque?o pueblo llamado El Progreso hasta Mayo de 1981. El Progreso era animado, rodeado de monta?as por un lado y de millas de plantaciones de pl?tanos por el otro. Desde los a?os cincuenta (50), los Jesuitas hab?an administrado iglesias, escuelas, cl?nicas m?dicas, estaciones de radio, prensas de impresi?n y casi todo lo dem?s que pudiese ayudar a la gente en la regi?n. Mi trabajo era administrar una peque?a escuela vocacional, ense?ando a los adolescentes habilidades de carpinter?a b?sica. [para mas]
For those of you not fluent in spanish:
I arrived in Honduras in September of 1980, and I lived with Jesuit missionaries in a little town called El Progreso until May of 1981. Progreso was bustling, surrounded by mountains on one side and miles of banana plantations on the other. Since the 1950?s, the Jesuits had run churches, schools, medical clinics, radio stations, printing presses and just about anything else that would help the people in the region. My job was to run a small vocational school, teaching teen-agers basic carpentry skills. [more here]
Tim Kaine shares a Catholic heritage with many Hispanic Virginians, as well as an interest in smart solutions to economic issues. In August he began bilingual, town hall-style meeting, continuing his campaign to address the issues important to Virginia's Latino voters. He also made a direct appeals for latino support by campaigning in mostly Spanish-speaking neighborhoods and speaking the language on Latino radio and television talk shows.
Latino pundit says "[The Kaine Campaign]... has been effective in reaching out to diverse Latino leaders across the state. Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore has helped by alienating all Latinos with his anti-immigrant rhetoric, thereby mobilizing even more of us."
When he's elected Governor, will Tim Kaine be considered Virgnia's first Hispanic to hold the office? Vote for Tim Kaine on November 8, and find out for yourself.