The Mexican No-Show Show

Nor has the Times examined another irony: on Dec. 13, the Times reported that Capizzi was searching to "see what kind of financial support" he could muster among GOP donors for his expected run for the state attorney general's job. At the same time, his office opened an inquiry into Sanchez's election victory. Nice timing, that.

In their search for scandal, Times reporters are skipping the subtleties. An increasing number of Latino community leaders believe the goal at the Times is to manufacture a solid link between Sanchez's win and Hermandad's voter-registration troubles. If you need more evidence, consider this: according to sources at Hermandad's Dec. 19 Christmas party, Cleeland tried unsuccessfully to entice Lopez and Sanchez--who are distant acquaintances and not ideological soul mates--to pose arm in arm for a Times photographer. These same sources say Cleeland became upset when Lopez, who was apparently aware of how the Times would use the shot, declined. Cleeland told the Weekly that she was not upset but rather was puzzled about the photo incident.

"We certainly had no agenda," she said. "But when we began hearing that noncitizens were registering to vote there, we could not ignore it."

Not everyone agrees.

"The Times is trying to prove we were in cahoots with Hermandad, and we weren't," said Sanchez. "The reality is that I did not have their vocal support in the election."

Hermandad is a political power, one that no doubt worries the Right. But if the Times continues to blindly follow Dornan's accusations to illogical conclusions, Hermandad may indeed be weakened. That would delight the Republican establishment, of course. It would also allow Cleeland, following some future Election Day, to recycle her Nov. 7 article on the political impotence of the Latino community.