Acción de Gracias por un nuevo comienzo

En la semana de Acción de Gracias estoy agradecida por muchas cosas y una de esas es poder sentir que el cinismo todavía no me ha consumido totalmente cuando de cuestiones políticas se trata.Desde el 7 de noviembre, pasadas las elecciones, escuchar las declaraciones de los dos partidos en favor de una solución a nuestro dilema migratorio me ha dado esperanzas de que esta vez las piezas parecen comenzar a caer en su sitio y de que sería posible un arreglo legislativo bipartidista al escurridizo asunto.
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President Barack Obama speaks at the election night party Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Chicago. Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Washington, DC - En la semana de Acción de Gracias estoy agradecida por muchas cosas y una de esas es poder sentir que el cinismo todavía no me ha consumido totalmente cuando de cuestiones políticas se trata.

Desde el 7 de noviembre, pasadas las elecciones, escuchar las declaraciones de los dos partidos en favor de una solución a nuestro dilema migratorio me ha dado esperanzas de que esta vez las piezas parecen comenzar a caer en su sitio y de que sería posible un arreglo legislativo bipartidista al escurridizo asunto.

El desfile de legisladores, funcionarios y ex funcionarios republicanos hablando de la necesidad de resolver el asunto migratorio como forma de comenzar a granjearse el apoyo de los votantes latinos que espantaron con años de posturas antiinmigrantes es esperanzador, independientemente de las motivaciones de supervivencia política que tengan.

Habría sido mejor que a principios de año, cuando arrancó con fuerza la lucha republicana por la nominación presidencial, estas mismas figuras hubieran asesorado a sus candidatos, particularmente al puntero Mitt Romney, de que favorecer la autodeportación y prometer vetar el DREAM Act, entre muchas otras cosas, sólo solidificaría la imagen antiinmigrante y antiminorías de los republicanos, pero a estas alturas lamentarse en nada ayuda.

Lo que sí ayuda es reconocer los errores y aceptar que el mal manejo del tema migratorio y el ignorar la nueva realidad demográfica y política del país, costó a los republicanos la elección.

Como dijo el senador republicano de Carolina del Sur, Lindsey Graham, "si uno está en un hoyo, hay que dejar de cavar". Romney parece no haber escuchado el consejo porque todavía la semana pasada dijo que Barack Obama ganó la reelección por todos los "regalos" que prometió a las minorías y a los jóvenes.

El partido de Ronald Reagan, el único presidente en haber promulgado una verdadera amnistía en 1986 y quien llegó a decir que los hispanos son republicanos pero todavía no lo saben, se fue tornando en una entidad de hombres blancos y mayores donde las minorías son una rareza.

Debo admitir que no sé si admiro o cuestiono a los hispanos que se mantienen fieles a un partido que vapulea a su propia gente. En mis años de reportera presencié la elección del entonces senador republicano de Florida, Mel Martínez, como presidente del Comité Nacional Republicano, y no fue alentador ver el proceso ni el descontento que su gestión generó entre el ala republicana más recalcitrante. Martínez, después de todo, había cometido uno de los pecados capitales para ellos: apoyar la reforma migratoria y trabajar de forma bipartidista con el León liberal del Senado, Edward Kennedy. Martínez finalmente dimitió al cargo.

Tras el último intento de impulsar una reforma migratoria en el Congreso, murió esa reforma y con ella se enterró el bipartidismo. Muchos de los que ahora abogan por dicha reforma, los senadores republicanos Graham y John McCain, por ejemplo, le dieron la espalda. Fue triste ver a otroras defensores republicanos de la reforma en la misma lista de acérrimos opositores a esa reforma y a medidas más limitadas como el DREAM Act. Y si no abiertamente opuestos, cómplices por su silencio.

Pero nada como una sacudida para aprender la lección: sin hispanos y sin otras minorías el Partido Republicano no volverá a pisar la Casa Blanca.

En la semana de Acción de Gracias agradezco la posibilidad real, algo que no he visto en muchos años, de que los dos partidos puedan sentarse a buscar una solución migratoria que para ellos supone beneficios políticos pero para millones de personas supone alivio, respiro y esperanza. Doy gracias por la posibilidad de un nuevo comienzo.

Elecciones en EE.UU. en imágenes
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President Barack Obama watches as first lady Michelle Obama gives a thumbs up at his election night party Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Chicago. President Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) (credit:AP)
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President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden acknowledge the crowd at his election night party Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Chicago. President Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (credit:AP)
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President Barack Obama , joined by his wife Michelle, Vice President Joe Biden and his spouse Jill acknowledge applause after Obama delivered his victory speech to supporters gathered in Chicago early Wednesday Nov. 7 2012. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) (credit:AP)
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President Barack Obama waves to his supporters after his speech at his election night party Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Chicago. President Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. At right is Vice President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (credit:AP)
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Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden wave to the supporters after President Barack Obama's speech at his election night party Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Chicago. President Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (credit:AP)
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CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 06: U.S. President Barack Obama walks on stage with first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia to deliver his victory speech on election night at McCormick Place November 6, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. Obama won reelection against Republican candidate, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 06: U.S. President Barack Obama walks out on stage to deliver his victory speech on election night at McCormick Place November 6, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. Obama won reelection against Republican candidate, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 06: U.S. President Barack Obama walks on stage with first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia to deliver his victory speech on election night at McCormick Place November 6, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. Obama won reelection against Republican candidate, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney arrives to his election night rally, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Boston. President Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (credit:AP)
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Japanese high-school students celebrate reports that President Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye) (credit:AP)
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Kelly Rodgers, 18, of Philadelphia, holds a sign saying "We Will Barack You" as people celebrate outside of the White House after President Barack Obama won re-election against Mitt Romney in the presidential election on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (credit:AP)
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People react after they learn President Obama has won at Democratic headquarters in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012.(AP Photo/Don Ryan) (credit:AP)
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Supporters react as the watch televised reports projecting President Obama as the winner during a Democratic Party election party, Tuesday Nov. 6, 2012, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Trent Nelson) LOCAL TV OUT; MAGS OUT; DESERET NEWS OUT (credit:AP)
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President Barack Obama supporters celebrate televised reports of his projected re-election for president of the United States during a rally at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (credit:AP)
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A supporter of President Barack Obama reacts to positive predictions for her candidate as crowds watch election results in Times Square, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in New York. After a year of campaigning, polls have begun to close after Americans across the United States headed to the polls to decide the winner of the tight presidential race between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/ John Minchillo) (credit:AP)
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Supporters cheer as a network projects the re-election of President Barack Obama at his election night party Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) (credit:AP)
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A supporter reacts to election results at the election night party for President Barack Obama Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (credit:AP)
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Supporters of US President Barack Obama react to results on election night November 6, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. AFP PHOTO / Robyn Beck (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Cean Orrett, 45, center, and Gareth Edmondson-Jones, 46, of San Diago, both recently married in New York, react to positive predictions for President Barack Obama as crowds watch election results in Times Square, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in New York. After a year of campaigning, polls have begun to close after Americans across the United States headed to the polls to decide the winner of the tight presidential race between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/ John Minchillo) (credit:AP)
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A supporter of US President Barack Obama attends the US election night party in Milan on November 7, 2012 . AFP PHOTO / GIUSEPPE CACACE (Photo credit should read GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Guests look at early projections for votes for the President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney during the Presidential Election party at the U.S. Embassy in London, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) (credit:AP)
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Voters wait in line near the Irondale Senior Citizens' Center, near Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Even though polls had closed for the 2012 general election, nearly 1,000 stood in a line that wrapped around nearby streets to cast their ballot. (AP Photo/The Birmingham News, Tamika Moore) MAGS OUT (credit:AP)
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Poll workers Eva Prenga, right, Roxanne Blancero, center, and Carole Sevchuk try to start an optical scanner voting machine in the cold and dark at a polling station in a tent in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island, New York, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. The original polling site, a school, was damaged by Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (credit:AP)
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Voters cast their ballots at a polling place inside St. Leo's Catholic Church in Baltimore on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. After a grinding presidential campaign President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, yield center stage to American voters Tuesday for an Election Day choice that will frame the contours of government and the nation for years to come. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (credit:AP)
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Voters pack the South Starkvile Voting Precinct trying to get their vote in before heading to work on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 in Starkville, Miss. (AP Photo/Kerry Smith) (credit:AP)
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Panika Dillion makes calls to potential voters while volunteering at the Travis County Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign Headquarters on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa) (credit:AP)
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Voters leave a polling place on election day on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. After a grinding presidential campaign President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, yield center stage to American voters Tuesday for an Election Day choice that will frame the contours of government and the nation for years to come. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (credit:AP)
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Voters line up to cast ballots in the general election at Barrow County's Precinct 16 at Bethlehem Christian Academy, Tuesday morning, Nov. 6, 2012, in Bethlehem, Ga. (AP Photo/David Tulis) (credit:AP)
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President Barack Obama buttons at the Obama field office located on Wyoming Avenue in Scranton, Pa., on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 during Election Day. (AP Photo/Scranton Times & Tribune, Butch Comegys) WILKES BARRE TIMES-LEADER OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT (credit:AP)
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Voters wait in line to cast their ballots under a tent at a consolidated polling station for residents of the Rockaways on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in the Queens borough of New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow) (credit:AP)
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Victor "Snake Mann" Wolder, marks his choices while voting during Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) (credit:AP)
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Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Puerto Ricans are electing a governor as the U.S. island territory does not get a vote in the U.S. presidential election. But they are also casting ballots in a referendum that asks voters if they want to change the relationship to the United States. A second question gives voters three alternatives: become the 51st U.S. state, independence, or "sovereign free association," a designation that would give more autonomy. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo) (credit:AP)
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People walk with a dog toward the main entrance of a polling place at a Hoboken Fire Department firehouse on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Hoboken, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (credit:AP)
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A line forms outside a polling place as people gather to vote on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) (credit:AP)
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Classical studies major Omar Dyette, from Racine, Wis., front right, mans a table outside the polls on the campus of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Dyette volunteered with the Ohio Public Interest Research Group to register college students prior to the 2012 election. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan) (credit:AP)
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Noelle Connor, a Madison, Miss., poll worker readies a sticker to apply to the lapel of finished voters at her precinct Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Local officials expressed their pleasure with the large early turnout of voters. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) (credit:AP)
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Susan Mardas celebrates Election Day by wearing a festive hat Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, while waiting for her mother to vote in Scarborough, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (credit:AP)
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People cast their votes at the Suder Elementary School voting precinct in Jonesboro, Ga. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kent D. Johnson) MARIETTA DAILY OUT; GWINNETT DAILY POST OUT; LOCAL TV OUT; WXIA-TV OUT; WGCL-TV OUT (credit:AP)
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Voters wait on line on Election Day at the Amtrak waiting room at Main St. Station in Richmond, Va Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, Bob Brown). (credit:AP)
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U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, D Minn., right, stands in line waiting to vote at Marcy School, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Andy King) (credit:AP)
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Voters wait in line at a polling place located inside a shopping mall on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (credit:AP)
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Addey Munye, 67, shows off her "I Voted" sticker after she cast her ballot in her first election at a polling station in the West Acres Mall in Fargo, N.D, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Munye is originally from Somalia. (AP Photo/LM Otero) (credit:AP)
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Voters wait to cast a ballot at P.S. 33 in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in New York. Voting in a the U.S. presidential election was the latest challenge for the hundreds of thousands of people in the New York-New Jersey area still affected by Superstorm Sandy, as they struggled to get to non-damaged polling places to cast their ballots in one of the tightest elections in recent history. (AP Photo/ John Minchillo) (credit:AP)
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Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Puerto Ricans are electing a governor as the U.S. island territory does not get a vote in the U.S. presidential election. But they are also casting ballots in a referendum that asks voters if they want to change the relationship to the United States. A second question gives voters three alternatives: become the 51st U.S. state, independence, or sovereign free association, a designation that would give more autonomy. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo) (credit:AP)
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Voters check in and cast their ballots under a tent at a consolidated polling station for residents of the Rockaways on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in the Queens borough of New York. Voting in the U.S. presidential election was the latest challenge for the hundreds of thousands of people in the New York-New Jersey area still affected by Superstorm Sandy, as they struggled to get to non-damaged polling places to cast their ballots in one of the tightest elections in recent history. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow) (credit:AP)

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