Hispanic leaders eager to 'referee debate'

The president of the National Council of La Raza says the group will serve as referee for the immigration debate and back it up with what members expect will be record Hispanic voter turnout in November. Janet Murguia, president and CEO, announced letters had been sent to both presidential campaigns asking the candidates to denounce those in their own party who she said have injected "hate" into the issue by campaigning against illegal immigrants.

The letter already paid off when Republican presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, in his speech Monday, took up her challenge and condemned "those who used the debate on immigration last year, not to respectfully debate the issue, as most did, but to denigrate the contributions of Hispanics to our great country."

Murguia, is hoping Sen. Barack Obama, Mr. McCain's Democratic opponent, will also respond to the challenge. Mr. Obama spoke to the convention Sunday and, while he did condemn "the hateful rhetoric filling our airwaves," he did not take on politicians in either party who NCLR says are responsible for injecting that into campaigns.