Since Lou Dobbs left CNN, he has been mulling a run for office — possibly even for president. Yesterday in an interview with WTOP radio, Dobbs said that part of his strategy to transition from being a media figure is to reach out to all the Latino organizations he alienated while at CNN:
DOBBS: And for the first time, I’m actually listening to some people about politics. I don’t think I’ve got the nature for it, but we’ve got to do something in this country, and I think that being public arena means you’ve got to part of the solution. By the way, I’m reaching out right now to Latino groups, to the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable — all of the groups with whom I’ve been in an ongoing debate, to try to bridge some of these conflicts and try to create solutions. And I think we’re well on our way to doing that.
Listen here:
ThinkProgress spoke with Lisa Navarrete, vice president at the National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. Navarrette said that Dobbs had not yet reached out to the group at all.
Dobbs did recently do an interview with Telemundo, in which he said that he was one of the Latino community’s “greatest friends.” However, he also falsely denied ever saying that undocumented immigrants are bringing leprosy to the United States, instead attacking the interviewer for even bringing up the subject. If he wants to start to “bridge” the differences with the Latino community, maybe he should start by not only apologizing for portraying undocumented immigrants as carriers of diseases, but also as criminals and invaders intent on conquering the United States for Mexico, as well as for promoting dangerous nativist conspiracy theories.
Transcript:
Q: Well as crazy as it may sound, there is talk of Lou Dobbs for president in 2012. Is that crazy talk?
DOBBS: What’s so crazy about that?
Q: Well, that’s what I’m asking you.
DOBBS: Golly.
Q: Well, is it crazy talk, or is it real?
DOBBS: Well, I’ll tell you this much. It’s one of the discussions we’re having.
Q: Really?
DOBBS: About politics. And for the first time, I’m actually listening to some people about politics. I don’t think I’ve got the nature for it, but we’ve got to do something in this country, and I think that being public arena means you’ve got to part of the solution. By the way, I’m reaching out right now to Latino groups, to the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable — all of the groups with whom I’ve been in an ongoing debate, to try to bridge some of these conflicts and try to create solutions. And I think we’re well on our way to doing that.
Update
At TAPPED, Tim Fernholz notes that a presidential run could backfire on Dobbs:
A Dobbs run would immediately activate Hispanic voters who are predominately Democratic party supporters. In 2008, Hispanics went for Obama 67 to 31 percent. Next time around, they’ll be a much larger chunk of the electorate — Hispanics are one of the fastest growing populations in the country — and, if Dobbs runs, not only will they be weighing all of the issues that are important to all voters, they’ll also be facing a candidate whose careless smears of illegal immigrants and embrace of Minutemen groups have made him a symbol of xenophobia. If that doesn’t boost turn-out among that community on election day, I don’t know what will.
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