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GRIEGO: In quest of the Hispanic vote

By Tina Griego, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 28, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was in town Friday and Saturday, hot on the heels of Sen. John McCain, who stopped by to speak to the Hispanic veterans at the American GI Forum's national convention.

This two-for-one wooing - Hispanics and veterans! - is part of the long and clumsy courtship of the Latino vote.

Richardson, acting in Sen. Barack Obama's stead, spoke to the veterans, attended a meet-and-greet with prominent local Hispanics and launched an Obama campaign door-to-door voter canvass in two of Denver's most Hispanic state House districts.

On his way out of town, the governor stopped for tamales at Paul Sandoval's restaurant in north Denver. "Hello, I'm Gov. Bill Richardson from New Mexico, campaigning for Barack Obama," he says, moving from table to table.

The Sandovals - Paul, a former state senator, and Paula, a current one - were devoted Clinton supporters. Paula has since taken up the Obama banner.

"I'm not there, yet," Paul says. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Over lunch, the Sandovals, City Councilman Paul Lopez and Richardson catch up on political chatter, and I ask the governor what it'll take for Obama or McCain to win Hispanic voters.

Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, says the Obama campaign will need more surrogates, known Latinos like himself and the Sandovals on the campaign trail, and Paul interrupts:

"Governor, don't you think he has to give us a reason to vote for him?"

"He has," Richardson says. "You have to listen." Obama, he tells Paul, is truly a special candidate.

"I'm just saying, governor, I think he needs to give us a reason."

"He will," Richardson says. "He's not familiar to us."

"Thank you," Paul says, with a that's-my-point expression on his face.

Richardson grows blunt. "He's a minority. He's one of us."

Which, in and of itself, is never a good argument.

Deciphering the Latino vote is an exercise in dissection. And let me say, the phrase "Latino vote," as with all shorthand, oversimplifies. The Latino vote is full of crosscurrents: education, economic status, political party, gender, religious affiliation, age. Each is a filter that kicks on and off, and they are often more relevant than ethnicity.

Still, there are issues in which a Latino lens slides into place. Education is one. It doesn't surprise me that Latinos consistently rank education as the No. 1 issue. It must be, when 30 percent to 50 percent of Hispanic students are dropping out of high school and Latinos are the largest and fastest growing population in the country. A plus B equals disaster.

Latinos make up 20 percent of Colorado's population and 12 percent of its eligible voters - not a huge number but enough to tilt the balance in either Obama or McCain's favor.

Last Thursday, the Pew Hispanic Center released the results of a nationwide survey showing 66 percent of Latino registered voters said they support Obama and 23 percent back McCain.

Richardson told me he believes the margin is much narrower in the battleground states of Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida, where President Bush just eked out a victory in 2004. Still, he predicts, the Rocky Mountain West will go blue.

The move toward Obama, he says, reflects both an embrace of Obama and a rejection of Republican policies, particularly the anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Richardson was energy secretary during the Clinton administration, and his endorsement of Obama during a pivotal point in the primaries prompted Democratic strategist James Carville to call him a Judas on national television. Richardson said then and continues to say he believes Obama is a once-in-a-generation candidate.

He says Latinos don't know Obama as well as they knew the Clintons, "but the more they get to know Obama, Latinos will feel warmer toward him. I know this guy. He's good. He'll be good for us."

Paul Sandoval, an unrepentant number cruncher, breaks it down this way: The younger Hispanics in this state are overwhelmingly Obama backers, the middle-aged are leaning that way, and the over-55 Hispanics are still looking for a reason to vote for him.

"Making Hillary vice president would seal the deal," he says.

There's no doubt the battle for Latino votes will be waged, from the ground up, in the more established Hispanic, middle-class neighborhoods. In the poorer, working-class neighborhoods, finding an eligible voter is harder because the Hispanic population is either too young or lacks citizenship.

No matter the neighborhood, voter registration rates among Hispanics tend to be low and turnout lower, and Rosario C de Baca is well aware of this as she heads into the barrio east of Federal and south of Alameda on Saturday.

C de Baca is a community organizer with the American Federation of Teachers, a mother of five, and a former Clinton supporter now backing Obama. The Obama campaign has given her a list of 148 registered voters, and she's going door-to-door: "Will you be voting for Obama?" And one woman tells her no, because she's afraid if he's elected he'll be assassinated, and another says, absolutely not, because she's a Republican and will vote Republican all the way.

Will you be voting for Obama? Yes, says Mary Louise Marmolejo, a former Clinton supporter.

I don't know, says Barbara Valdez. Her son-in-law, Duncan Crookston, was severely wounded in Iraq and died in January. For that reason, she says, McCain won't be getting her vote. "One hundred years in Iraq? No way. I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess I'm still a little bitter Hillary didn't get in."

It's 3:30 p.m. and scorching. When I leave Rosario, she's standing on the sidewalk, checking her list.

griegot@RockyMountainNews.com

Comments

  • July 28, 2008

    4:01 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    arby writes:

    If anyone knows what is going on in North Denver and probably the whole city it is Paul Sandoval. If he does go for Obama he will swing a lot of votes. Hispanic and others.

  • July 28, 2008

    9:01 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Alive writes:

    "He's a minority. He's one of us." - Bill Richardson

    That would make me one of "them". That would make 80% of Coloradoans one of "them".

    This dude is a Governor and says stuff like that?

    Sounds like he knows who Obama is going to take care of if he gets elected. Sounds like some people place their ethnicity ABOVE their country. Not good.

  • July 28, 2008

    9:10 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    T1anda writes:

    According to a post on RMN.. Bill Richardson was born to the family of a WHITE Boston banker.
    He attended PRIVATE schools from kindergarten on up!
    He has lived a very PRIVILEGED existance!!
    He has NEVER served in the military and has had government jobs basically his whole life.

    He carries himself as an Hispanic.

    Quote: "One word describes Bill Richardson as an Hispanic.....

    PHONY!!

  • July 28, 2008

    9:25 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    primafacie writes:

    Is there a sadder phrase in politics than "the Hispanic vote"? Right up there with "the black vote," "the women's vote" and "the left-handed golfers who drive Miatas vote."

    Whatever happened to campaigning for "the American vote"? We're all interested in education, the economy, a lower tax burden and strong defense. We all benefit from free enterprise, a competitive job market and the defeat of enemies who use terrorism as a tactic. Yet our elected leaders categorize us and tailor their campaigning to what they perceive as the issues of interest to those segments.

    But the candidate who emphasizes a lower tax burden across the board, keeps education at the state and local level where it is most effective, and has the chops to maintain our strength worldwide would appeal to all subsets.

  • July 28, 2008

    10:40 a.m.

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    P_Denver writes:

    primafacie . . .

    . . . it's called "pandering" and politicians on both sides of the aisle are experts at it.

  • July 28, 2008

    12:02 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    raoul writes:

    "Governor, don't you think he has to give us a reason to vote for him?"

    "He has," Richardson says. "You have to listen." Obama, he tells Paul, is truly a special candidate.

    "I'm just saying, governor, I think he needs to give us a reason."

    "He will," Richardson says. "He's not familiar to us."

    "Thank you," Paul says, with a that's-my-point expression on his face.

    Richardson grows blunt. "He's a minority. He's one of us."

    THAT'S THE BEST PANDERING HE CAN DO? SCARY.

    Go back to your own state and fix the problems you've been residing over for some time now. Who told you Coloradans were a bunch of sheep anyway?

  • July 28, 2008

    2:59 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    T1anda writes:

    Good post Raoul!!

    Fresh....you just spewed out a rediculous and uninformed bunch of BS!!!

  • July 28, 2008

    8:48 p.m.

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    Castle writes:

    It seems to me that Bill Richardson was in town pandering more then anything else. It would be so refreshing to see a political candidate out seeking an American vote. With all our years as a nation talking about equality for all, we still have politicians pandering to ethnics. Wether hispanic, black, asian, women and what ever else there is, we are all American. Untill we stop being hyphenated Americans, we will never be true Americans. America used to be a melting pot where people melded in to a coheasive group. Now it seems we are a salad bowl. I'm not saying you should forget and forsake your roots, but you need to become an American.

  • July 29, 2008

    8:16 a.m.

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    HolierThanThou writes:

    Maybe we should all learn Spanish because the English language isn't working too good these days. Saying someone is courting the Hispanic vote is like saying someone is courting the European-American vote. It's nonsense. Most present and former Spanish speakers in Colorado and the west are Mexican immigrants or expatriates while in New York they would be from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. So, Governor Richardson is courting the Mexican immigrant or Mexican-American vote in Colorado.

    Isn't this tedious and confusing?

    Why not just court the American vote?

    Education is a problem for all Americans but Mexicans come here to work. I reckon that Mexicans drop out of school to go to work much like their parents did. The same thing has happened to other immigrant communities throughout American history. My Irish ancestors and family come to mind. We didn't start taking college seriously until the 1960s. Until then, we worked in factories or ran businesses of our own. We thought a university education was a luxury and some of us left high school to work or join the military.

    Yet I'm proud to say that by and large, my family is very well read and we all grew up learning critical reasoning via the art of debate, which sometimes concluded with fisticuffs. In spite of all that brawling, we're still close because we value each other highly.

    So, here's my pitch for Barack Obama:

    He's an intelligent, cool-headed strategist and team builder that America needs now. He's not an avowed conservative who will support any and every powerful corporate boss who wants to screw his employees for buck. He's already planting seeds for new alliances abroad, which will spread the burden of fighting our mutual enemies and provide for a lasting peace after the hostilities have ended. He comes from a modest background, which enables him to understand the issues facing working people.

  • July 29, 2008

    8:51 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    T1anda writes:

    Kristoff from the New York Times Feb 28, 2008..quoted Obama from a year ago. Kristoff wrote "Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, RECITING them with a first-rate accent.
    Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as "ONE OF THE PRETTIEST SOUNDS ON EARTH AT SUNSET"

  • July 29, 2008

    3:30 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    T1anda writes:

    OMG Fresh has become the grammer/spelling police!! Totally rIdiculous!

    Run!!!