Earlier this month the RNC launched a Spanish-language television news show titled Abriendo Caminos (Expanding Pathways), a move that is coextensive with the Republican party's ongoing effort to include Hispanic voters in their communications.

Right on schedule, charges of "pandering" have emanated from the Left and, more significantly, the Right.

If the Republican party is to remain a viable political force, knee-jerk accusations of pandering should be summarily dismissed, especially when they come from Republicans.

Pandering is defined as "catering to the lower tastes and desires of others."

Why does a television program, which showcases Republican ideas and achievements, become demeaning once it is translated into Spanish?

Is the very use of the language insulting? Certainly not to Spanish-speaking Hispanic voters.

Apparently Republicans are now doing liberal Democrats' job for them: Expressing an "aggrieved groups'" outrage before the group has a chance to do it themselves, if they care to do it at all.

When DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe can sit back and enjoy the sound of Republicans parroting his own talking points, things are not going well.

From the start of his successful presidential campaign, George W. Bush has held that Hispanics, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, share enough ideological ground with Republicans to be an important part of the party's future. In office, President Bush has worked hard to communicate with Hispanics all over the country.

A recent New Democrat Network poll found that in a mock ballot President Bush has pulled even with Al Gore among Hispanics. However, that same poll found that "Republicans" share nowhere near the same approval ratings as "Democrats." Clearly, Hispanics are responding to Bush's inclusiveness, but they haven't heard enough from the rest of the party. Until now.

With the launch of Spanish-language "GOP TV," the party is signaling a desire to follow the president's lead and share in his successes.

This turn of events has Democrats extremely worried, so watch for cries of "Republican pandering" to go hand in hand with offensive displays of real Democratic pandering.

For example, Terry McAuliffe often refers to Republicans' perceived lack of focus on "Hispanic issues" like "education, health care, jobs and immigration."

Two things immediately come to mind: 1) Haven't President Bush and the Republicans in Congress brought about landmark education reforms, enacted a massive job-creating tax cut, passed several economic stimulus packages, introduced the most innovative healthcare solutions in recent memory, and also passed the pro-family, pro-immigrant 245i bill? 2) "Hispanic issues" sound a lot like regular "issues."

The real issue, however, is that Democrats see Hispanics, if not all minorities, as "other." For them, there are American concerns and then there are "Hispanic concerns" or "black concerns." Theirs is a political ideology based not on uniting Americans through shared beliefs and goals, but in dividing and classifying Americans into pliable subgroups.

For Democrats, "Hispanic concerns" are uniformly about low expectations, in other words, pandering.

Witness how, when election reform was considered in the Senate, Democrats claimed Hispanics would be especially hurt by the requirement of showing a photo ID when voting for the first time.

In Democrats' minds, presenting a photo ID, a requirement for everyday tasks like buying cigarettes, boarding a plane or driving a car, is beyond Hispanics' reach. This is the type of political and social infantilization Democrats do so often, and Hispanics can do without.

Similarly, in the debate over Social Security privatization, Democrats claim that Hispanics do not possess the financial wherewithal to effectively administer their own retirement accounts.

Somehow, though, Hispanics were able to do so in their countries of origin, like Mexico, El Salvador, Peru, Columbia, and Chile, where their privatization plans serve as the model for our own.

In Democrats' eyes, Republicans commit the crime of treating Hispanics like regular Americans, which means expecting the same things from them as they would any other American.

Running political ads on Spanish-language television is not pandering, but simply a case of recognizing that there are different kinds of people in this country who get their information from different sources.

President Bush using high-school Spanish during a national radio address on education is not pandering. Tom Daschle speaking in English about the inability of Hispanics to meet the same requirements as all other Americans is.

"Pandering" is not an action; it's a motive. That's a fact — in any language.

— Raul Damas is director of operations at Opiniones Latinas, a bilingual polling firm.