¿Qué?

Where have all the Americans gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the Americans gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the Americans gone?
They've been hyphenated every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

What if the Democrats held a debate and nobody knew?

What if the Democrats held a debate and nobody understood?

On Sunday night, there was a Dem debate and people did understand.

You were likely to know about it if you're a viewer of Univision, the nation's largest Spanish-language network.

Naturally, you were likely to understand what the candidates had to say if you speak
Spanish or if your closed captioning was working.

Yes, presidential debate history was made -- the first ever debate broadcast in Spanish.

CORAL GABLES, Fla., Sept. 9 -- The first presidential forum to be conducted in Spanish placed a couple of the Democratic participants in an uncomfortable position Sunday night: answering tough questions while simultaneously fiddling to make sure their earpieces didn't fall out and they could the hear the translation of the next question.

Those questions dealt with a range of issues of interest to Latino voters, from health-care policy to relations with Latin America.

Several questions focused on immigration, and the seven participants exhibited little difference on the issue, with all supporting changes that would allow illegal immigrants now in the country to stay and eventually receive U.S. citizenship, and all criticizing anti-immigrant sentiments. Nearly all the candidates committed to overhauling immigration laws in their first year in office, days after Republican candidates accused each other in a debate of supporting "amnesty."

"We all know that this has become a contentious political issue," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) said. "It is being demagogued, and I believe that it is being used to bash immigrants, and that must stop. The Republican candidates need to understand that they are doing a great disservice to our country."

The most remarkable part of the 90-minute forum, held at the University of Miami, proved to be not the responses but the format: Questions were posed in Spanish by two moderators from the Spanish-language television network Univision, which broadcast the event nationally; interpreters immediately translated the questions into English for the candidates, while a written English translation was beamed onto a screen in the arena for the crowd of more than 3,000.

Univision required candidates to answer in English, because only New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) speak Spanish fluently. That prompted Richardson to criticize the network from the stage Sunday night.

"I'm disappointed today that 43 million Latinos in this country -- for them not to hear one of their own speak Spanish, is unfortunate," Richardson said. "In other words, Univision is promoting English-only in this debate."

He then switched to Spanish but was cut off by moderators Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas.

OK.

So, when is the Ebonics debate going to be held on BET? How many candidates speak Ebonics fluently?

And when is the Estrogen debate going to be held on Lifetime? Hillary might have an edge there.

I want to know when the candidates will debate on the Weather Channel, addressing the issues that matter to weather junkies. Of course, there would have to be multiple breaks for Local on the 8s.

The possibilities are endless.

Gay debate. Spanish debate.

This is a weird trend.

The Dems seem very eager to pander to specific interest groups rather than to appeal to ALL Americans.

Their tactics are very divisive.

The Dems don't treat Americans like citizens of the UNITED States, one nation. Instead, voters are seen as separate blocks.

The Dems have no problem with that, except when it comes to the Electoral College.

I think it's odd that some Dems, like Dianne Feinstein, are pushing for the abolishment of the Electoral College. She wants to eliminate the role of states in national elections.

She's upset that "[c]andidates focus only on a handful of contested states and ignore the concerns of tens of millions of Americans living in other states."

If that's a problem, isn't it also a problem that candidates focus on a handful of demographic groups rather than the concerns of ALL Americans?

I think it is. ¿Sí?