Going Red by Ed Morrissey

Author:Ed Morrissey [Morrissey, Ed]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2016-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

BUILDING FRANCHISES

Tito Muñoz and his wife, Deborah, took a rare weekend afternoon off to discuss the problems with Republican outreach in Prince William County. “I’ve been working seven days a week, with Saturdays and Sundays, and I still have to work at home,” Tito says as we sit in the Todos Supermarket in Woodbridge, near the southeastern end of Prince William. “Look, in America that’s what it takes. If I want to grow my company, that’s what it takes to do it.”

Todos itself could be called a manifestation of the American dream that Muñoz describes. A large modern supermarket filled with gleaming aisles and plenty of customers, it also features a ready-to-eat food counter in the back, with booths and tables for eating and sitting. Todos is more than just a supermarket, though; it’s a one-stop center for the needs of the heavily Hispanic neighborhood that surrounds it.15 It offers financial services such as check cashing and bill payments, a Nationwide insurance office, a travel agency, notary and tax preparation services, and more.

Tito explains that Carlos Castro, owner of the supermarket, came to the United States as a refugee from El Salvador’s civil war and initially went to work in construction. But he soon began looking for another way to reach his version of the American dream. “He said, ‘Man, Tito, I cannot work in construction. I’m a little thin, the shovel is too heavy for me,’ ” Tito recalls. “So he started selling groceries in a truck.” Today, Castro owns two supermarkets, with hundreds of employees and English classes offered on-site.

During the 2012 campaign, Republicans invited Castro to meet with them. Castro was appreciative of the effort but wondered why they didn’t come to the supermarket and the neighborhood it services. “He said, okay, this is all well and good,” Deborah recalls, “but why won’t they just come into my store and talk to my employees?”

As it happens, Todos Supermarket was a stop for Gillespie during his Senate bid. “I was there,” Gillespie says, and “it was fun.”

Tito and Deborah have long served as ambassadors for the conservative and Republican message. While out campaigning in the neighborhoods, Tito would start discussing the issues at people’s doors, but “they said no, come inside the house and sit in the living room.” After about perhaps fifteen to twenty minutes, residents would often invite more people over. “Now the daughter comes, and then the husband. I mean, now I have like six people there, six voters.”

“That’s time consuming,” Tito admits, “but it has to be done. If you’re able to do that, you can reach twenty to thirty families, then later you create an event. And then they invite friends.”

Sometimes, though, the Muñozes feel betrayed by the tone Republicans use on immigration and other issues. “Dick Armey [former House Majority Leader and conservative activist] has a fantastic quote,” Deborah says. “ ‘You don’t tell a girl she’s ugly, and then ask her to the prom.’ ” The problem between conservatives and the Hispanic community became

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