In 2001, I was a volunteer for Michael Bloomberg’s campaign. Accompanied by the founder of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa, he came to Staten Island to thank the volunteers.

Just prior to the visit, Mr. Bloomberg made a public statement admonishing the Mark Green campaign for distributing racist material about his rival in the Democratic primary, Fernando Ferrer. I spoke to the future mayor and tried to tell him that if he was rallying around Mr. Ferrer to court Hispanics, he was wasting his time because the Democrat’s support in that community was tenuous at best. Mr. Bloomberg responded only that Mr. Green was wrong to do what he did to Mr. Ferrer. Today’s Election Day results will probably bear out my opinion, and if the Democrats can’t figure out why, there’s no hope for them.

The GOP primary took place on September 11 and I voted early for Mr. Bloomberg. Fate intervened in the form of the World Trade Center attack, and the primary was rescheduled. Once it was obvious, however, that Mr. Bloomberg had secured enough votes to win the Republican nomination, I voted for Herman Badillo on principle because he should have been the Hispanic standard bearer. His values represent those of the community more accurately.

Most Hispanics I knew either stayed home the day of the Democrat primary or voted for Mr. Ferrer only because they didn’t want Mr. Green to win. Why? Because New York City is a huge deal and Mr. Ferrer is a former Bronx borough president with a lack of vision for this great town.

Most Hispanics who vote are working people, and jobs, safety, and schools rank highest among their priorities. Mr. Bloomberg is a self-made billionaire, so many residents figured that the city would benefit from his business acumen. Mr. Ferrer, on the other hand, is a traditional Democrat who comes from the anti-corporate, pro-social service programs school and is prone to raise taxes to pay for them. That is so passe.

Herman Cain is a black man who wrote the book “They Think You’re Stupid.” He was referring to Democratic politicians taking black voters for granted. The same can be said for Hispanic leaders, who are chanting the same tired slogans about tax cuts for the rich while ignoring the fact that tax cuts have helped the struggling families of New York City. Liberal politicians and left-wing blatherers like Michael Moore may despise corporations in their rhetoric, but their blatant hypocrisy has been exposed on the Internet and in a new book, “Do As I Say: Profiles of Liberal Hypocrisy,” by Peter Schweizer, who actually checked their stock portfolios.

Hispanics shop at Wal-Mart and some work two or three jobs to support their families. They are conservative and have basically strong family values. This is not the image that is promulgated by the Democratic Party, which insists that abortion rights and gay rights supersede all others. This particular year, the Republican candidate also shares these nontraditional values, which may result in many Hispanics staying home or, like me, voting for the Conservative candidate, Thomas Ognibene.

I met Mr. Ferrer last year and learned that he had attended parochial school as I did, which probably explains why neither of us speaks with an accent. I wondered how someone taught by nuns could be associated with a faction that supports partial birth abortion. Apparently, that thought occurred to whoever posted the falsity on Mr. Ferrer’s Web site that he attended public school. Religious education is a luxury many Hispanics would dearly love for their children. Had Mr. Ferrer indicated that he supported school choice, perhaps he would have increased support here.

It would also have been nice if Mr. Ferrer had visited the North Shore of Staten Island, where many Hispanics live, to criticize the Bloomberg administration for halting the move of the 120th Precinct to Stapleton near the housing project, a high-crime area that was the scene of an intense manhunt for the killers of two undercover police officers last year. Residents would have cheered anyone who championed their cause for a stronger police presence. Instead, a new temporary police substation was recently ordered for the 122nd Precinct on the West Shore, a more affluent, politically powerful area that does not have a serious crime problem.

Mr. Ferrer waited until Sunday to venture to the forgotten borough to greet shoppers outside a Pathmark. He should have held a town hall meeting with minority community leaders at the beginning of his campaign to discuss his agenda. If the Democrats really want to recapture the mayor’s office, they should stop running hapless campaigns with generic ethnic candidates and focus on issues that resonate with all New Yorkers.