Univision Cries Foul, Hosts Own Presidential Forums

Spanish language network Univision will broadcast the first of two one-on-one presidential forums Wednesday night. GOP presidential nominee will be the first candidate to appear, and President Obama will answer questions Thursday night.

The presidential interviews came after a dramatic clash that would rival any of the network's famous telenovelas. Univision confronted the Commission on Presidential Debates, the non-profit group that organizes the presidential debates, after it announced an all-white lineup of moderators.

"It's so interesting, because the Commission on Presidential Debates seems to believe that it is ok to believe that it is ok to have an African-American president, but it is not ok to have a moderator from a minority group," says Jorge Ramos, one of the network's anchors.

Univision President Randy Falco asked the commission to schedule an additional debate focused entirely on Hispanic issues, but the commission denied the request.

"We strongly believe that the four journalists we have named see their assignment as representing all Americans," said Janet Brown, the commission's executive director.

Univision was undeterred by the response.

"It's really unforgivable and the American way is not to wait," Ramos says. "We can't wait till 2016 to see if the commission then reconsiders and includes a Hispanic journalist, no that's not the American way."

Apparently the presidential candidates didn't want to wait either because both candidates quickly agreed to participate in Univision's event.

At a restaurant in Washington, D.C., the television is permanently tuned to Univision. Everyone there knows about the upcoming "Meet the Candidate" forum, but a mood of tired cynicism abounds.

"In this country, Latinos are cast aside," says Colombian-born Gladys Saavedra. "We're only useful to clean houses, to pick up the mess and to pay taxes. But now they've realized that the Latin vote is important."

Saavedra is one of about 3 million registered Hispanic voters who were born outside the U.S. but have since become naturalized citizens.

"Many of those folks get their news from Univision because there is a sense that they cover things that the English language news doesn't cover," says University of California at Berkeley Professor Lisa Garcia Bedolla. She is the author of the book Latino Politics.

Garcia Bedolla expects there will be plenty of questions at the Univision forum that won't be asked during the presidential debates.

"The language of this forum is less critical than the substance of the forum, and the forum is going to be focused on a set of questions that probably aren't going to be as prominent in the English language debate," Garcia Bedolla says.

Univision's Meet The Candidates Forum will air in Spanish Wednesday and Thursday at 10 p.m. EDT. The interviews will be available simultaneously in English on Univision's Facebook page.

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