George Lemieux Panders to Cuban American Conservatives

Sen. George Lemieux has blocked the nomination of State Department official Tom Shannon. Lemieux is not a foreign policy expert. The only reason to block the nomination is to pander to elder Cuban conservative voters. Shannon was the top Latin America State Department official under President George W. Bush. The Bush administration wasn't known for being friendly with Cuba. Shannon was approved by the Foreign Relations Committee by a 14 to 4 vote.

Nine former State Department secretaries of expressed their displeasure to Lemieux.

``He has every right, if he doesn't think this individual is qualified, to go to the floor and make his case, but why should one freshman senator with no background in Latin America, no background in Brazil, decide the Senate can't vote on the president's nominee?'' said Bernard Aronson, who served as an assistant secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, and signed the letter. ``It's really a slap in the face to Latin America. You don't see nominees to France, Germany, China, held up by a single senator. It would be an insult.''

News flash to Republicans: you are losing the Hispanic vote and the Cuban policy has been a massive failure. The majority of Cubans now want an end to the embargo. Younger Cuban Americans are more concerned with the economy. The days of Republicans milking Cuba for political gain are over.