Let them speak Spanish!
September 14th, 2007 by 
elenamary
Yes, the democratic presidential candidates debated in English on Univision a Spanish language channel.
Yes, the democratic presidential candidates who speak Spanish fluently (Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd) were banned from speaking in Spanish on the Spanish language network because it would give them an unfair advantage.
Of course Richardson and Dodd have an advantage in speaking Spanish, but that doesn’t make it unfair. Would we ban Hilliary Clinton from discussing women’s health issues because she has an unfair advantage, having a vagina and all? Would we ban Barack Obama from discussing what it is like to be a studly black man because he would have an unfair advantage with that sexy body of his? Would we ban Dennis Kucinich from discussing short men from
I like that I have the option of a candidate who speaks Spanish. I like that I have the option of a candidate from
I enjoyed reading about Condoleeza Rice and how while on a trip to
One of the admirable qualities of Pope John Paul II was his ability to communicate to the masses in many languages. It has been argued that he spoke 10 languages. Pope John Paul II made attempts to speak to the masses in their own language.
And don’t we often hear the quote from John F. Kennedy “Ich bin ein Berliner”?
The importance of language in politics is much like the important advice given to all travelers; the two most important things you can do when traveling is to know how to say “Thank you” and “Please”. With those two phrases you can win over just about anyone and they will be thoroughly impressed.
I didn’t need Hillary, Barack, Dennis, or John, to do their whole speech in Spanish. All I needed was for them to make an attempt at the end of their speech, to say in Spanish “Thank you for this opportunity”.
Sure, some of us may have giggled (I know I giggled in 2000 when I heard Al Gore attempt to speak in Spanish) but we giggle and greatly appreciate the effort. In fact your attempt to say one phrase in Spanish might end up carrying more weight then that of Bill Richardson spending the whole debate speaking in Spanish. Because what I want to know as an informed voter is can you pull off diplomacy?
Cuerpoaztlan Says:
September 19th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Great post! Let them speak Spanish! Until it is made so a poor person could realistically run for President, it’s all about advantage anyway!
Amor y Rebeldia!
xine Says:
January 24th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
“I enjoyed reading about Condoleeza Rice and how while on a trip to Russia she corrected her Russian interpreter.” that is the unfair advantage right there. I was actually thinking about this issue (not in terms of the debates but in general) last night. The differences in interpreters and what they think their role is, how they decide to interpret what you are saying, those are all very important things and things that you don’t realize if you don’t speak the language yourself. When I was on the cusp of learning Spanish, I was listening to a former FMLA combatant woman talk about her years in the revolution and what it meant to her. I had a very important and personal question to ask her about revolution and being a woman, and I don’t remember the details, only that I knew that I really wanted to know the answer. Anyhow, I could understand Spanish, but this was such an important question that I decided to ask it through an interpreter (a male, not that it necessarily had anything to do with it). I knew enough Spanish to know that in fact what he was asking her was mearly a paraphrase of my actual question, and didn’t get to the heart of what I wanted to know. If I had not spoken Spanish I wouldn’t have known that. I couldn’t have clarified. I mean, yea, it is ridiculous that folks couldnt say a word or two in Spanish, but really, in my opinion it would have been unfair.
Also, when you are debating, you want to know EXACTLY what the other person is saying, and interpretation sometimes leaves something to be desired.