Politics: Hatch Has Heart

During the debate over remarkably tight-lipped judicial nominee Miguel Estrada, Senator Orrin Hatch made the following statement, attesting to his own heartfelt affection for the Latino people:

"Lest anybody think I am just saying these things because I am supporting Miguel Estrada, I have spent most of my Senate career working very closely with the Hispanic community in the United States, getting to know the issues and addressing the community's concerns through legislation. In fact, in 1986, I started the U.S. Senate Republican Conference Task Force on Hispanic Affairs to ensure that the Hispanic community had a strong voice in the Senate. Over my lifetime, I have grown to love the Hispanic culture, their people, and their history. I believe their values and culture have infused and invigorated the American dream. The Latinos I have come to know over the past 26-plus years tell me it is all about heart. It is the 'corazon.' Frankly, I have come to feel like I personally have a Latino heart beating in my breast. That is how important this community is to me. That is how close I feel to my Hispanic brothers and sisters. I have the credentials to make that case. I happen to know Miguel Estrada. He, too, has 'corazon'"

I remember when I was coming up in the barrio, (my nickname was Pepito), oftentimes I would sit on the stoop with Orrin Hatch as he worked the corner, buying all the neighborhood kids papusas and teaching us multi-part harmonies to his remarkably accessible Christian tunes. I felt then that Hatch was a Latino at heart, except that he spoke fluent English, lived in Utah, was a lawyer, and once ran for president. And I remember thinking, as Hatch and Arlen Specter mercilessly attacked Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings that I could almost feel Hatch's 'corazon' shrivelling up like a prune.