Mt. Airy nonprofit director shatters political stereotypes

by MICHAEL J. MISHAK

In Philadelphia, a city that remains distinguished for its racially polarized voting record, the tendency to label minority voters as Democrats is strong. But Farah Jimenez defies blanket categorization. The Cuban-American executive director of Mt. Airy USA, an area nonprofit, is working the frontlines for Bush-Cheney '04, a scenario that can engender confusion.

"There's a big leap in assumptions," Jimenez said.

Her political passion extends far beyond pulling a lever on Election Day. As treasurer of the Pennsylvania New Majority Council and a member of the Bush campaign's national steering committee for Pennsylvania outreach, Jimenez last month found herself an alternate delegate attending the Republican National Convention in New York.

Jimenez hopes to broaden the base of her party and shatter the image of the suburban soccer mom as the typical Republican.

Unlike many of her cagey colleagues in the nonprofit sector, she proudly proclaims her political affiliation. Jimenez, who works in Mt. Airy and lives in Fairmount, encounters her fair share of Bush-bashing, but sees herself as promoting understanding, not division. For many, she said, it's hard to break the instinctual rejection of the Republican Party. "It's almost like changing your religion," Jimenez said.

For Jimenez, the Republican Party is committed to "using government the way it's meant to be used," namely, she said, to defend the country and its freedoms, and to encourage private investment.

Professionally, Jimenez has seen those principles at work in Mt. Airy revitalizing the Germantown Avenue corridor. The Republican Party's mission is consistent with that of Mt. Airy USA, and other community development corporations, in the sense of using government dollars as a catalyst for private investment, she said.

Both empowerment zone legislation, which offers tax incentives to companies who develop urban areas, and the state's Keystone Opportunity Zones were the result of Republican leaders (former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, respectively), she said.

A New Jersey native, Jimenez, 35, is a University of Pennsylvania alumnus whose Republican leanings date back to the Reagan administration. President Reagan's promise to topple Cuban President Fidel Castro brought Jimenez's family hope and relief, she said. The Republican values of fiscal conservancy and small government are consistent with her own beliefs, she said.

In stark contrast to this year's negative campaigns, the 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia had a more positive tone, Jimenez said. Still, the 2004 gathering provided her an opportunity to forge new relationships she hopes will have an impact on her work in the Mt. Airy community.

For Jimenez, criticism of the President's handling of the economy and the Iraq war is disingenuous.

Though the president wields little power over the economy, she said, economic growth has been "astonishing," despite a five percent unemployment rate.

Heartened by the post-convention boost earlier this month, Jimenez said President Bush has the leadership to heal a divided nation. Most important, Bush is the stronger candidate on homeland security, she said. "There isn't a debate," Jimenez said. Rocked by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she said she now feels a sense of safety where there was imbalance. She points to the absence of another terrorist attack since Sept. 11 as a sign of effective leadership.

Jimenez said the criticism of President Bush over the Iraq war is disingenuous. "[Bush] made the decision based on the information available at the time," she said. "It's unfair to criticize a decision that the majority of Congress endorsed by using new information in an analysis three years later."

A 70 percent increase in "delegates of color" at this year's convention is evidence of "new faces" aligning with the President and the Republican Party, Jimenez said. Citing reports that show a small departure from the Democratic Party by African American and Latino voters, Jimenez said the GOP's big-tent dream is well on its way to becoming a reality. Still, there is work to be done, she said. "Our delegation was diverse," Jimenez said. "But it could always be more diverse."