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Courting the Latino electorate

By MARTÍN E. MARTÍNEZ / And Juan Esparza Loera Vida en el Valle

Now that he has gotten the thumbs up from the Democratic Party and Sen. Hillary Clinton -- and former Clinton backers like United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, Los Ángeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros -- Sen. Barack Obama's attention now turns to a Latino electorate that overwhelmingly voted Clinton in the presidential primaries.

That Latino commitment to Clinton was obvious during the Democratic primaries. In California alone, Latino voters favored Clinton by 66 percent, while Obama received only 23 percent.

Texas Latinos supported Hillary Clinton even more overwhelmingly, casting a decisive 72 percent of their primary votes for her.

New México Gov. Bill Richardson, the only Latino candidate in the Democratic primaries before dropping out and eventually endorsing Obama, predicts that Obama will get more than 70 percent of the Latino vote.

A survey by the Western Majority Project gives Obama a 64 percent to 25 percent advantage over presumptive Republican candidate John McCain among Latinos in Arizona, Nevada, New México and Colorado. Those are considered battleground states with a sizable Latino electorate that could make a difference in November.

A recent poll by the Pew Hispanic Center found Obama with a 66 percent to 23 percent lead over McCain among Latinos.

The Latino vote, according to some political experts, is not a lock for Obama.

"The big, big question for Latino voters is not whether Democrats will get the Latino votes. The question is what the margin will be," said Cecilia Muñoz, senior vice president for policy for the National Council of La Raza.

"If McCain gets 40 percent (of the Latino vote), he can win," said Muñoz. "And Sen. McCain, though he may be behind, is not giving up and is running very hard in the Latino community."

President George Bush captured between 32 percent and 44 percent of the Latino vote in 2004.

Last month, the Obama campaign announced a $20 million initiative that will target Latino voters in those states. The amount dwarfs the $8 million spent by both major party candidates four years ago.

A number of Latinos, including some delegates, have indicated they will support McCain.

"This is a reality," said Héctor Barajas, spokesman for the California Republican Party. "Many delegates who supported Clinton have expressed their intention to join McCain because they don't believe Obama has the experience he needs to be president."

Barajas referred to a recent CNN survey that indicated that of the 18 million voters who supported Clinton, at least 6 million would now vote for McCain.

Those figures are brushed aside by California's influential Latino leaders, who believe their community -- and voters -- are already identifying with Obama.

"Obama understands Latinos perfectly well because he's an immigrant himself, and I believe that's why he's earned our community's support," explained state Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Ángeles.

Although McCain and Obama have favored immigration reform that includes a path to legalization, an issue that could sway Latino votes, Romero said Obama's pledge to present a solution during his first 100 days as president resonates with Latinos. McCain has shifted his immigration reform plan to focus first on border security.

Assemblymember Juan Arámbula, D-Fresno, was a Clinton supporter. Obama's platform is similar to Clinton's, so the political landscape remains essentially unchanged, he said.

"Now that Obama is the official candidate we should support him, because he offers solutions to all of the Latino community's problems. We shouldn't forget that he belongs to the Democratic Party and shares all the party's goals for improving the lives and living conditions of Latinos," said Arámbula.

Latinos can't continue mourning Clinton's loss because she is not the official candidate, he adds.

"The candidate is Obama and now we should support him because what is at stake is the unity of the party," said Arámbula.

Assemblymember Alberto Torrico, D-San Francisco, said the convention's theme has always been "party unity." Latinos should help end party divisions, Torrico said.

"Sen. Clinton gave all of her delegates to Obama. That's a sign that she wants unity for the good of the party, so the Democrats can return to take their place in the White House," said Torrico.

Muñoz, the NCLR official, said both candidates must address the issues that are important to Latinos: health care, education and the war in Iraq.

"Race is a conversation we can relate to, but it is one we have impatience with," said Muñoz. "It's a distraction from more substantive conversations about the economy, the war in Iraq and about making change that the community needs."

The talk that McCain will peel away Latino voters who had supported Clinton is just talk, said Congressman John Salazar, D-Colo., during a conference call last week.

"My wife was one of those (Clinton) supporters," said Salazar. "My wife told me she would not vote for anyone but Obama (in November)."

Congresswoman Hilda Solís, D-Calif., is among 15 members of the Obama campaign's National Latino Advisory Council.

"As the Latino community continues to get to know Sen. Obama, it is clear that he is the right candidate for our issues and is the best candidate to deliver change that America desperately needs," said Solís.

Eliseo Medina, a longtime UFW organizer and now executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, is another member of the council. He said last week that Latinos at the Democratic convention are rallying behind Obama.

"Whether we come from México, El Salvador, from Argentina, Panamá or Puerto Rico, we are all united and understand that this election is all about us. It's about our families, our communities, and this is our chance to be heard."

The McCain campaign has indicated it isn't frightened by Obama's $20 million outreach campaign in the Latino community.

"It's funny, they announced they'll spend $20 million reaching out to Hispanic voters but when you go to Florida, the only Spanish ads are by John McCain," McCain spokeswoman Hessy Fernández told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"At the end of the day, John McCain doesn't need an introduction with the Latino community," said Fernández. "He has been working for more than two decades on the value, principles and issues Latino voters care about."

Send e-mail to: mmartinez@vidaenelvalle.com or jesparza@vidaenelvalle.com McClatchy News Service contributed to this report