Bush to Break Language Barrier in Radio Address

Weeks after new census data confirmed expectations of a soaring Latino population across the country, George W. Bush this weekend will become the first president to deliver a version of his weekly radio address from the Oval Office entirely in Spanish.

Both the English and Spanish versions will be broadcast Saturday. The White House declined to comment but is expected to make an official announcement today.

Radio Unica will carry the 3- to 5-minute speech on 54 stations across the country (including KBLA-AM [1580] in Los Angeles at noon). The network’s chief executive officer, Joaquin F. Blaya, said he asked the Clinton administration to do the same thing in 1999, but he received no response. The Bush administration, however, has left open the possibility of more Spanish-language radio addresses by the president.

“Maybe 2 1/2 years ago it wasn’t clear how important it was, but in this past election where a few votes made the difference--if you can win over 1 million Hispanics, you’ve won the election,” Blaya said.

Not everyone was so idealistic.

“Gestures and symbols are important, but I want to see what his speech is about,” said Robert Dallek, a history professor at Boston University who specializes in presidential history.

Bush’s forays into Spanish have been well documented, and during his years as governor of Texas he cast himself as a friend to the Latino community. In campaign speeches to Latino voters last year, the presidential candidate could not resist stirring up crowds with his Texas-twanged, conversational Spanish.

But in an interview with The Times on his charter plane after one such speech last August, he stammered and bowed out of a free-form conversation in Spanish, explaining he was brave enough to attempt the language but “humble enough” to know when to stop “butchering it.”

For the most part, Bush’s dealings with Latinos and his willingness to use Spanish in official settings have provided a major image overhaul for the Republican Party, which backed a 1994 California proposition that sought to cut off public services to illegal immigrants. According to Times exit polls, mostly white voters in the state passed Proposition 187 and reelected one of its biggest supporters, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. But there was a long-term cost to the anti-immigrant victories: Voters of color still refer to Wilson when they discuss champions of institutional racism.

“It’s certainly a big, big change,” Blaya said, comparing Wilson’s legacy in California to this weekend’s radio address by Bush.

“But you also know what happened to Pete Wilson. He’s gone. Pete who? . . . If you are a politician in the United States today, you cannot ignore the size and potential of growth in the Hispanic community.”