George P. Bush, son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and nephew and grandson of presidents, has put his hat in the political ring as a candidate for Texas Land Comissioner. What’s so special about that? Well, besides being the latest Bush to boldly step into the political arena, Bush is of mixed race. His father, Jeb is married to a hispanic woman named Columba, according to Reuters.

Some are hoping that this will help draw more latino voters to support the Republican party. “This certainly helps the Republican Party present an image of a party that not only seeks Hispanic votes but is running Hispanics for office,” Mark P. Jones, a political analyst at Rice University in Houston.

“This is clearly beneficial in Texas, because every other Republican candidate for a non-judicial statewide race in 2014 will be a white male,” Jones said.

Bush, a lawyer and co-founder and chairman of the Hispanic Republicans of Texas, is active in the latino community, and would be good for the image white male-dominated party. According to CBS, he speaks Spanish and has worked to stifle the expectations caused by his family’s standing, but he is still being spotlighted by the Republican party, in order to garner attention from an increasingly influential latino community.

However, the question is, when will we stop assuming that people are so, um, unintelligent that they will vote for a candidate or a party simply based on the color of the candidate’s skin? Do people really do that? Well, apparently a few, but not enough to make broad assumptions.

State Representative Jose Menendez, a Democrat, said he considers the assumption “insulting”, as he should. “I think the Hispanic community is not a monolithic community, it is a community that is independent.”, he said.

Menendez pointed out that he believes Hispanics support “policies over personalities” just like anyone else, and Cal Jillson, a political analyst at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, agrees with that sentiment.

“There will be a few people who are attracted to Bush personally due to his connection to Hispanic Texas, but there will be just a few,” Jillson said.

Surely we don’t think that little of our fellow man, to assume he will blindly follow someone else’s ideals because his skin is the same color? I know that a few will, but surely not the majority.

What do you think? Would you vote for a candidate simply based on ethnicity?

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