This past Sunday (9/9), seven of the Democratic presidential hopefuls were at the University of Miami taking part in a debate hosted by Univision. The interesting twist was that it was broadcast in Spanish and English.

As per the Associated Press, the preliminary Nielsen Media research shows that the debate averaged about 2.2 million viewers. This is impressive because the Fox News Republican debate received about 3.2 million viewers and the CNN/YouTube.com Democratic debate received about 2.6 million. This rating shows that the Hispanics are very much interested in politics.

On the other hand, it seems that the Republican candidates were invited to a similar forum, but only Sen. John McCain accepted. Needless to say, many were not very happy by this refusal. As per one of the co-hosts, Maria Elena Salinas, “Univision is as important to political elections as NBC, CBS and ABC. You get invited, and you show up.”

I believe that this was a huge mistake by the Republican Party. During the immigration policy discussions that recently took place; the Republican Party was made out to be racists and “anti-immigrant”. Now when given the platform to talk directly to the Hispanic community, they decide against it. I am not sure of the reasons that were given for the refusals; however, I think that it would be an excellent opportunity to explain their position on issues that are important to Hispanics. Hopefully they will reconsider; however, I do believe that the damage has been done.

For more information on Sunday's debate, take a look at: Univision Goes Mainstream With Democratic Debate - Decision 2006 News Story - WTVJ | Miami and/or Democrats' Spanish-language debate draws in Hispanic viewers in US - International Herald Tribune