Spanish language skills gain ground among politicians with Hispanic constituents

Kate Larsen, Daily Camera

Published January 29, 2007 at midnight

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Kissing babies and shaking voters' hands translates to any language, but more politicians today are also using their Spanish skills to win over Latino voters.

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Denver, broke new ground and caused controversy last week when he delivered the first Spanish version of the Democratic preview to the State of the Union speech.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush regularly addresses crowds in Spanish.

Colorado's new governor, Bill Ritter, can drop a phrase or two.

And former state Board of Education member Jared Polis says his ability to speak Spanish has helped him immensely.

"It was extremely useful in getting to know the needs of my constituents," said Polis, a Boulder businessman and philanthropist who is active in politics.

Polis said many parents felt more comfortable expressing their concerns to him in Spanish.

"I think you're going to see more and more of it," said Polis, who is also fluent in German. "I do believe that elected officials who are bilingual or trilingual can be more effective."

Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority in the country. In Colorado, the Latino population grew by more than 80,000 people between 2000 and 2002, Census Bureau estimates show. According to data from the bureau's 2005 Community Survey, 17 percent of Coloradans - about 718,000 people - speak a language other than English at home. And 72 percent of those people speak Spanish.

Salazar's Spanish speech was criticized by U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, who said it divides the nation and brings us one step closer to becoming a bilingual country.

But Salazar said using one of the many languages spoken in the United States unites people. He said he was proud to give a speech in the language he grew up with and the one spoken by a growing number of people in the country.

"If someone were to ask me to do it again, I would," Salazar said. "English will remain our primary language in our country - it always has been and always will be."

Lesley Smith, a member of the Boulder Valley School District's Board of Education, is another politician who can speak and understand Spanish proficiently. Although she doesn't use it much, Smith said it has definitely come in handy.

At a meeting at Casey Middle School last year, where she spoke about the school district's bond issue, Smith used her Spanish skills to address the mostly Latino crowd.

"I thought, 'You know, I'm just going to start speaking in Spanish,' " Smith said. "People smiled; they weren't expecting that."

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