*UPDATE: Mrs. Saban’s nomination to the U.N. post occurred on September 19, 2012 according to Politico, which we had previously reported occurred on October 4. This corrected date reflects that the White House made the nomination exactly one day before President Obama’s appearance at the September 20 Univision Townhall event.*
The Miami Herald reports that President Obama has appointed Cheryl Saban to the position of U.S. representative to the United Nations. Cheryl Saban, the wife of Haim Saban, owner of the very powerful Univision television station, has never before worked as a diplomat.
The appointment comes only one day before President Obama appeared on the station for their “Meet the Candidate” event, where he faced notably tough questions and criticism for his failures in office.
After his less-than-stellar performance at Univision and with the all-important Hispanic vote at play this November, this odd appointment is causing some raised eyebrows at what looks like a purely preemptive political maneuver.
According to Univision’s press release on the event, more than 4.3 million viewers tuned in to watch all or part of the event with President Obama, and 4.2 million viewers tuned in the night before to watch Mitt Romney. Both events were watched by so many Spanish-speaking individuals in America that the broadcasts either led or nearly led their respective markets in viewership in many of America’s largest cities, including Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.
Univision’s success as America’s 5th largest television station and most-watched Spanish-speaking television network makes them a very powerful factor in the upcoming presidential election, a fact which I am sure was on President Obama’s mind when considering Cheryl Saban for the UN position.
Based on a report by the Pew Hispanic Center, 23.7 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the 2012 election, up 22 percent since 2008. If Latinos do vote at the same rate they did in 2008, that would mean 11.85 million Latino voters are up for grabs in what is sure to be a very close presidential election.
With this appointment, President Obama is making a rather conspicuous attempt at capturing Univision’s support, one which I believe should be exposed as the political maneuver it clearly is. I have no doubt that Cheryl Saban is a talented and intelligent woman, but she would have to be very naive not to see the reason the Obama administration is interested in bringing her aboard.
Making a power grab for Univision’s media support is a bold move by the Obama administration, and precisely the kind of backroom deal President Obama promised not to engage in when he first ran for president in 2008.
This move stands as more proof that Obama is worse than “just talk;” he is actively working against the very principles he held as being vital toward building a better America. I guess we can add another notch to Obama’s failure belt, right next to record unemployment, being unable to keep our embassies and citizens safe overseas, trillions of dollars of debt, a decaying currency, and astronomical gas prices. How this man has an approval rating above ten percent is a tough one to figure out.
