Rubio on voter ID laws and Latinos: 'What's the big deal?'
Editor's note: As President Barack Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney court the Latino vote, CNN takes an in-depth look at this complex and diverse community, what matters most to Latino voters, and how their vote will influence the November elections.
Washington (CNN) - Mariam "Mimi" Bell, a Latina Republican from Colorado, resents the implication that Hispanic voters are somehow negatively affected by the state's new voter identification law.
"It's insulting when they say we're going to disenfranchise the Hispanics," Bell said of the law that requires voters to present an ID such as a driver's license, passport, utility bill or birth certificate to vote. The suggestion, Bell said, is "because we're Hispanics we're inept to get an ID."
The debate over the wave of voter identification laws cropping up in more than 30 states is playing out against the backdrop of the 2012 general election's high-profile fight for Latino voters.
The two presidential candidates hold widely divergent views on the matter.
Women sue for right to fight in combat
Two Army reservists have sued the Defense Department for excluding women from combat jobs.
"It stigmatizes women's service as not as important as male service," said Col. Ellen Haring, a plaintiff in the case."We're excluded from branches that allow career progression to the highest ranks."
Haring spoke to CNN's Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence for The Situation Room.
Opinion: GOP's problem with Latinos - as big as Texas
Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a CNN.com contributor and a nationally syndicated columnist.
By Ruben Navarrette Jr. , CNN Contributor
San Diego (CNN) - In Texas, where voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, politics can be brutal.
Case in point: the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. It's rough and dirty and personal. And, whether it ends Tuesday or continues on to a run-off on July 28, it could blow up all the bridges that Republicans in Texas built over the years to Hispanic voters.
This is because, in the 11th hour, the primary went down a muddy road. That is, if you think that accusing a candidate with a Spanish surname of favoring "amnesty" for illegal immigrants - with no evidence to back it up - is hitting below the belt because it raises questions about divided loyalties and feeds into the perception that all Hispanics favor open borders and unlimited immigration.
No kidding. There are those Americans who are convinced that Hispanics are working behind lines to help Mexico reclaim the Southwest in an elaborate "reconquista."
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What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
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