GRIEGO: Obama has to earn Hispanics' help, votes
By Tina Griego, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published August 25, 2008 at 7:09 p.m.
Updated August 26, 2008 at 10:03 a.m.
Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech Monday to the Hispanic caucus of the Democratic National Convention proved to be something of a bittersweet experience for her supporters. And she still has plenty of them among the caucus. They were the people wearing Hillary buttons. The men and women with tears in their eyes as she spoke. The California delegate named Bob Archuleta who sat next to me, still mourning.
They were people like labor leader icon Dolores Huerta and Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, and sitting behind me, state Sen. Paula Sandoval and former school board member Lucia Guzman. These women need no buttons. This community, as diverse as it is, is still small and its leaders few enough that their voices are magnified.
Once the primary ended, Huerta, Molina, Sandoval and Guzman shifted their support to Obama. This is true of Hispanic voters, in general, and, by the way, "in general," should be required after every mention of Hispanic voters. Let us stipulate here that the Latino vote is complex. Diverse group. Diverse interests. Let us state the obvious: Once you reduce any group to one of its characteristics, such as, oh, I don't know, ethnicity, you risk straying into caricature. The Latino community is both victim and perpetrator of such oversimplification.
By a margin of 2-to-1, Latinos from across the country rushed to support Clinton's presidential bid, never looking back at the young senator from Illinois because for many in this still-clannish community "up-and-comer" is another word for "stranger." Now, even as polls show Obama has a comfortable lead over Republican John McCain among Hispanic voters, he remains a cipher to many.
We need Clinton here, Ramona Martinez, Hispanic caucus chair of the Democratic National Committee and a Colorado superdelegate, told me recently. "We need her to send the message it's time to move on."
Clinton did just that. Between the shouts of Hil-la-ry! Hil-la-ry! Between the calls of "thank you," and "I love you," from the audience.
It was a powerful speech in which the senator reaffirmed her long ties to the Latino community and her commitment to universal health care, immigration reform and economic opportunity.
"I am asking those of you who supported me - I will be forever grateful - to work as hard for Barack Obama . . ."
And next to me, Bob Archuleta gave a sigh and said, "OK. OK."
"Let us join together here. Let us remember what we were fighting for," Clinton continued. "We were not just fighting to elect a particular person president. We were fighting to take our country back. Let us join hands. We may have started out on different paths . . . But we are on the same journey now. That journey leads not just to the White House, but to a better future for our families and children."
It was speech interesting for what it said - this was an unequivocal message to support Obama - and for what it did not. Clinton sold the Democratic Party and its values. She did not sell Obama. That, it seems, she is leaving him to do on Thursday night.
It's hard to measure how much impact Clinton's words will have, but I did run into Colorado delegate Awilda Marquez, a Clinton supporter who just Sunday told me she did not know whether she would vote for Obama.
"You know, honestly, she's almost talked me into it," Marquez told me. "When she said this is not about the candidate, this about our country, that touched me. It will be hard for me not to vote now. But it was her. It was her. She spoke to me. Not him."
The road to the White House, Latino political leaders say these days, comes through the Hispanic community. This is a version of the sleeping giant metaphor, a reference to the untapped potential and future power of Latino voters. The candidate who carries the Latino vote in swing states like this one, New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, is the candidate who becomes our next president.
I have, over the course of this campaign, asked people what Obama (and McCain) must do to win more Latino voters. On Sunday, my question went to Huerta. Obama will have to work not just through political leaders, but community leaders, she said, not just through English media, but Spanish. Latino voters, she said, "have got to understand (Obama), and they're not there, yet.
"Hillary is out there by herself, but there is only so much she can do. Obama has to do the work. It's one thing to say, 'I will vote for Obama,' it is another to go out and work for him."
It's a message as old as the sleeping giant: We are Latinos and we are Democrats, but do not take us for granted.
Post your comment
Registration is required. Click here to create your free user account, or login below.
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.
Featured
-
Legislature Blog
Read live updates from the opening of the 2009 legislative session.
-
Rocky multimedia
The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.
-
Who's next?
Complete coverage of the Broncos' search for a new coach.
-
Rocky year in photos
View an audio slide show of staff selections from 2008.
-
Winter Escapes
Your insider’s guide to the copious joys of the coolest season.
-
Sam Adams' Open Mic
Open Mic: Two-man advantage with Avs
-
Shanahan's career
See photos from Mike Shanahan's career as Broncos coach.
-
12 days of Drew
Look back at the year that has been with Drew Litton.
-
A dream fulfilled
A Rocky Mountain News and MediaStorm production
August 26, 2008
9:24 a.m.
Suggest removal
T1anda writes:
Anyone who votes for the far-left, inexperienced Marxist, Obama is uninformed and naive as he**..... their ethnic background makes no difference!!
Give someone a fish you feed him for one day.
Teach him how to fish you lose a Democrat voter!!!
August 26, 2008
10:29 a.m.
Suggest removal
missmilehi writes:
Blah. I'm Latina and I shall not let anyone - not Hillary, not Bamster, not McCain, not the celebrities, not Brangelina, not the media, not even my mom and dad - tell me who to vote for. It's my decision and mine alone.
May the best man win.
August 26, 2008
10:57 a.m.
Suggest removal
MileHighPatriot writes:
misshilehi! You're friggin awesome!
Hispanic columnists always try to 'stand up' for their people by putting them on a pedestal. As if we (I'm Mexican:-) ) have accomplished so much or we're that much more special than another group. I am no better than White, Black, Asian or whatever.
Politicians need to earn the respect of the PUBLIC.
Lets stop talking ‘segregationally’ and start making sense.... and kick all the illegals out, btw.
August 26, 2008
12:16 p.m.
Suggest removal
Squatch writes:
I love how we wanted to end segregation yet somebody always wants to talk about Black, White, Hispanic and every other group of Voters we are all Americans and that is what we are voting on an American President. I am American of Mexican ancestry my family is from the Colorado & the New Mexico area before it was declared America.
One problem is the government has always tried to make one group of people happy while screwing another.
August 26, 2008
12:31 p.m.
Suggest removal
cassidy22 writes:
"Still mourning"
People, get over it and move on. Instead of "mourning" over the candidate that is no longer in the race - start educating yourself about the ones who still are so you can choose in November.
Everyone gets this choice - every voter gets to choose, regardless of who you are, what your skin color is, where you live, how much money you make. This is the one time we are all truly equal - we all get to make our choice. So do your own research and choose FOR YOU - not based on what someone else tells you do to, choose for YOU.
August 26, 2008
2:17 p.m.
Suggest removal
Mike846 writes:
Tina, are you listening to the Americans of Mexican descent who are writing? They are AMERICANS, and they say so. For a party that trumpets "diversity", no one group has done more to fracture the our country's population than the Democrats. I will vote against Obama because he doesn't represent the values that I do. He's a hard left-winger, and his writings and history in the Illinois legislature bears that out. He hasn't done anything in the US Senate, so no record there. "Divide and conquer" has been a maxim of politicians since the first cave clan ran into some other clan. Hillary is one of the best examples of that. Quit pandering to specific groups. The reason Obama is the nominee is no one KNEW who he was, and he said nice things to blacks, hispanics, gays, liberals, anti-war folks, and the rest of the fractured Democrat infrastructure. Now he's in a general election, and he's moving to the center so fast you can't follow the movements. At least with Hillary, we KNEW what she looked like. This guy is an empty suit, no matter what language you say it in. Mike
August 26, 2008
2:53 p.m.
Suggest removal
GlacierDragon writes:
Each candidate should "earn" all their votes from everyone. This isn't Whites for McCain, Blacks for Obama and Hispanics are the swing vote...
CNN had a similarly offensive article about 6 months or so, saying that Black Women were torn between Hilary and Obama because they couldn't decide whether to vote according to sex or to race.
Um, hello? Issues?
I'm seeing very little coverage of the issues. Might as well put Paris Hilton in the running. At least her campaign ad addressed how *she* was going to handle the issues.
August 26, 2008
3:05 p.m.
Suggest removal
Elwood writes:
GlacierDragon, Excellent post.
Why does it have to be based on race or sex, why can't the press just stick to covering the issues and the candidates stand on them. Instead they try to bunch people into some kind of minority group to explain the results of the polls and instigate unrest (more news to cover I guess).
August 26, 2008
3:12 p.m.
Suggest removal
redwhiteandBLUE writes:
MileHiPatriot,
YOU..are awesom !! I agree!
August 26, 2008
3:43 p.m.
Suggest removal
peter303 writes:
Obama succeeded without playing the "minority victim" card. Its time Tina and her crowd follow suit. There an excellent article about this in the NY Times Sunday Magazine a couple weeks ago.
August 26, 2008
8:08 p.m.
Suggest removal
MileHighPatriot writes:
peter303.... really? Then I suppose it was his books that did the playing for him? Him and his wife have a main goal: help Black people... when it should be help PEOPLE.