Congressional Hispanic Caucus Hews Party Line

Drudge and Roll Call are reporting that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which, despite its name, is composed entirely of Democrats in the House, has declined to endorse Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General. This has also been picked up by Knight Ridder.

Coupled with the unanimous opposition to Gonzales by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, this indicates that Democrats are willing to pursue the "Be kind to terrorists" strategy after all and take their chances in opposing the first Hispanic Attorney General. Will this stop Gonzales? No. Will it hurt Democrats in the Hispanic community? Only future elections will tell.

Republicans have already made in-roads into the Democrat's advantage in the Hispanic vote at least in part because it has become increasing unpalatable for Hispanics to vote for a party that advocates positions that run counter to their values. This may just be more evidence of the Democrats missing a pulse.

UPDATE: Other Hispanic groups are supporting Gonzalez, so there is a clear split in the Hispanic community on this nomination. This is a good sign, namely it shows that unlike other reliable Democrat-voting groups, Hispanics are showing a fair amount of independence.