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Breaking: Rep. Gutierrez (IL-4) Confirmed for Netroots Nation Panel on Power of the Latino Vote

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luis gutierrezThis year’s Netroots Nation Conference is just around the corner, and if you’re heading to Minneapolis next month, then you definitely won’t want to miss out on this panel.

Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) will join Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily Kos; Eliseo Medina, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Maribel Hastings, Spanish Language Reporter/Blogger; and Adam Luna, Political Director at America’s Voice, to discuss immigration and the power of the Latino vote, in a panel called “Immigration and the Power of the Latino Vote: Why Harry Reid Came Back and Alex Sink Sunk.” Here’s a description:

Latino voters were critical to 2010 Senate victories and will play an even more central role in the race for the White House in 2012. But with the immigration reform promise still unfulfilled, President Obama under heavy criticism for deporting more immigrants than Bush and a Republican party searching for a Latino marketing strategy to mask their extremist agenda, where will these voters go? This panel will share polling and demographic data to uncover the enormous promise and challenge facing both parties as they develop strategies to court these voters in 2012. We will discuss the role of immigration reform as the key motivator for this growing segment of the American electorate and will discuss how candidates, like Majority Leader Harry Reid, modeled a winning strategy by delivering on their immigration promise.

Rep. Gutierrez is now traveling the nation on his “Campaign for American Children and Families” tour to rally communities to use their voice and be empowered to demand better from their leaders in Washington.  He’s not afraid to insist that Democrats — even the President — live up to the values they were elected to govern by, and change policies that are causing unspeakable and unnecessary pain for millions.  In Congress, Rep. Gutierrez has been a leader in crafting bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform legislation. However, as Republicans erected their irrational blockade on reform, he pressed on and in 2009, authored the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act. He also organized his Democratic colleagues to get on board, and played an instrumental role in getting the DREAM Act passed in the House.  On the panel, Rep. Gutierrez will share his views about how Democrats win when they stand up for our progressive values on a wide range of issues.