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 Editorials | Opinions | February 2008 
Latinos Have Some Influential Chips They Can Play
 Mary Sanchez - Kansas City Star
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So what exactly does Bill Clinton sound like as he begs for a little extra guacamole and salsa?
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson certainly knows. On Super Bowl Sunday, the greatest matchup might not have been the football, as Richardson hosted Clinton to watch the game.
The former president came a-courtin' Richardson's endorsement for wife Hillary's presidential campaign. To sign up Richardson, the governor of a heavily Latino state and the son of a Mexican mother, before Super Tuesday on Feb. 5 would have been a coup for the Clinton campaign, which has been astute at locking up key Latino support.
If you'd bet on Clinton getting what he came for, you'd have done just as well putting your money on the New England Patriots.
Despite what must have been substantial pressure from his old friend Bill, Richardson didn't cave.
One almost can hear Clinton not so gently reminding him who appointed him U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1997 and energy secretary from 1998 to 2001.
Clinton would have liked nothing better than to get the Richardson blessing prior to the delegate-heavy California primary, which did go to Hillary.
As of this writing, Richardson still hadn't budged.
His is a good example for Latino voters. Now is the time to leverage the clout of their vote.
Simplistic "Si se puede" platitudes aren't going to cut it. Latino voters care about the same issues that resonate with others: Health care, education and the war rank high in polling.
Immigration reform is important but isn't the top priority in polls.
For now, Clinton and Obama are focusing on the March 4 Texas primary. A big win for Clinton could help offset Obama's lead in delegates. Texas isn't a winner-take-all state.
In order to gain on Obama in the total delegate count, Clinton needs to win in Texas by 20 percentage points. Guess who makes up nearly a quarter of the voting population in Texas. That's right: Latinos.
Despite early boasting that Clinton had the Latino vote locked up, that simplistic analysis is being recast after recent caucus and primary wins of Obama.
He's making inroads with Latino voters. Hillary's campaign wisely did its groundwork early, winding up big-name Latino endorsements such as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and labor union organizer Dolores Huerta.
She couldn't have done much better if she'd raised Cesar Chavez from the dead.
Obama seems to be learning from his early mistakes, or rather from his lack of effort. He's got Federico Pena as a campaign co-chairman. Pena was mayor of Denver and an energy and transportation secretary under Clinton.
Obama seems to have realized it wasn't so much that Latinos wouldn't vote for him, but simply that they didn't know him well enough.
Latinos are heavily loyal to brand names, as any marketing executive can tell you.
Not a lot of time exists, but if he makes a big enough effort, the hopeful message of Obama could sway Latinos who lean toward Clinton on the basis of name recognition more than issues.
There is some validity to the idea certain Latinos will be leery of a black candidate.
Some studies have shown Latino immigrants often hold negative views of blacks and want to be identified with the majority culture.
That's an aspect of being relatively new in the country and relying on stereotypes, rather than experience, and not having a more stable economic foothold in a new land.
Still, the vast majority of Latino voters are native-born - not immigrants - and assimilated to a high degree.
Finally, Latinos as a whole might be weighted toward Democrats, but not so heavily as to be written off by Republicans.
Cubans, for example, form a solid Republican voting bloc. Independent Latinos, given their conservative outlook on social issues like abortion, just might go for Arizona Sen. John McCain in the Nov. 4 election.
For many, his sane immigration reforms also might make him attractive.
In the meantime, Latino voters would do well to speak out loudly to the campaign of their choice.
People in high places are listening - and will be at least until Nov. 4. All three frontrunners - Clinton, Obama and McCain - need the Latino vote.
So far, none of them has it in the bag.
More chips with that queso, Bill?
Sanchez is a columnist for The Kansas City Star. Her email address is msanchez(at)kcstar.com. |
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