Thursday, May 17, 2012
   
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Candidates Debate Official English; Romney Improves Grade from D-minus to ‘B’

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Last night, NBC hosted the first of two debates ahead of the Florida GOP Presidential Primary.

This marked the first debate of the 2012 cycle where the moderator specifically asked the candidates about their stance on making English the official language of the United States. They were also asked if their support for official English included limiting federal election voter ballots to English.

Mitt Romney, who had previously been lagging far behind the other three GOP candidates in our presidential candidate rankings, improved his ProEnglish grade from a ‘D-minus’ to a ‘B’ last night after saying he agreed with Newt Gingrich about the importance of making English the official language of the federal government.
 
VIDEO:  Watch the candidates answer questions about official English

Debate Video

You can read the candidates’ complete debate answers on the English issue at ProEnglish.org.

Debate Moderator: All of you favor making English the official language of the United States, which could mean that ballots and other government documents would not be available in Spanish. But, Speaker Gingrich, you're sending out press releases in Spanish; Governor Romney, you're advertising in Spanish. Why is it OK for you to court voters in Spanish, but not OK for the government to serve them in Spanish?

Newt Gingrich    Gingrich
There are 86 languages in Miami Dade College, 86. There are over 200 languages spoken in Chicago… But as a country to unify ourselves in a future in which there may well be 300 or 400 languages spoken in the United States, I think it is essential to have a central language…[and]  I would have ballots in English.

Mitt Romney      Romney
I think Speaker Gingrich is right with regards to what he's described. Look, English is the language of this nation. People need to learn English to be able to be successful, to get great jobs. But as a country to unify ourselves in a future in which there may well be 300 or 400 languages spoken in the United States, I think it is essential to have a central language.

Ron Paul           Paul
Yes, my answer is similar, but a little bit different, because at the national level, obviously we have to have one language. I mean, we can't have multiple languages. So, for legal reasons, we would have one language.

President Obama now carries the only ‘F’ grade among the 2012 presidential candidates.

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