Note from D.A.- The DIS blog welcomes Mr. “Mike” Seigle as a poster here.

Mike Michael is a College Instructor of History and long time political activists. He have taught History in the Atlanta area for almost 15 years and worked on political campaigns for more than 18 years. Michael has held positions within the Republican Party of Georgia at the county, district, and state level as well as working on a major Georgia based conservative PAC for three election cycles. He has worked either as a paid staffer, professional support or as a volunteer on close to 100 political campaigns.

Michael described himself as a law and order conservative. Mr. Seigle is currently the dbase manager and director of research for a major political consulting firm and holds a position in the 4th district Republican Party. Michael lives in Norcross with his wife and son.

How significant is the Hispanic vote in Georgia

How significant is the Hispanic vote in Georgia? GALEO and other Hispanic oriented political organizations have been warning for years that the Hispanic vote is something the Anti-amnesty crowd should fear. By their way of thing the Hispanic voter is 100% for amnesty and growing in political importance. Republicans in Hall and Whitfield county need to be careful or they will anger the growing Hispanic voting block.

However, a look at the actual numbers provides a far more accurate understanding of the real power of Hispanic voters or even pro-amnesty voters.

First, it is wrong to think that all Hispanic are pro-amnesty. According to the Secretary of State of Georgia there were 44,474 Hispanic voters who voted in the 2008 general election or the 2008 general election run-off in Georgia. Of these 21,622 or 49% registered to vote or have a voting history before January 2006. This tells me that more Hispanic voters are registering to vote, but almost half of the Hispanic voters were politically active before the amnesty debate started. Many of these older more established Hispanic voters are Cuban, or South American and some are even native born. It is wrong to think that they are pro-amnesty or even care about the more radical positions of groups like LARAZA or GALEO.

More than half of the Hispanic voters are over 40. They are a slightly younger demographic than White or even Black voters, but a person starts to settle down a great deal after 40. It is wrong to think that the activism of radical youth would translate into the same kind of single-issue politics for the long established and older reality of almost half of the Hispanic voters.

It is a myth that elections are being stolen by such as small population. Hispanics are not a unified political force and even if they were they are not numerous enough to move the political landscape very much. The 44,474 Hispanic voters who voted in the general election or general election run-off in 2008, represent 1.1% of the total general election voters.

Finally, the amnesty bill coming out next year will depend on a grassroots core that includes roughly half of the 44 thousand Hispanic voters who are recently registered and/or young enough to care. Against them will be the more than 70,000 unemployed who applied for first time unemployment benefits last week, the more than 10% of Georgian who are out of work, and the tens of thousands of otherwise able bodied people who are on government welfare. If a grassroots conflict is between these two groups, it is obvious to me that the political power is in the hands of the unemployed not the pro-amnesty activists.

Note:
The statistical analysis is based on data provided by the Secretary of State of Georgia and the Georgia Labor Department. The current unemployment statistics can be found at http://www.dol.state.ga.us/