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New Mexico Gov. campaigns for Obama

Candidate walks fine line in appeal to minority voters

By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 29, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Sen. Barack Obama has tried to rise above racial politics. But that's not stopping a key surrogate from making appeals based on the candidate's race.

"He's a minority. He's one of us," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said over plates of tamales Saturday with former state Sen. Paul Sandoval, a one-time backer of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton who's still on the fence for the general election.

It was part of a larger message about why the governor thinks his fellow Hispanics, along with other voters, should give Obama a look, said Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos.

"One of the reasons he likes Sen. Obama is he does have a diverse background and history and point of view," Gallegos said.

Both Obama and his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, have ramped-up their competition for Hispanic voters, a fast-growing constituency that some analysts say could be the key to winning the West.

Still, the "one of us" line goes beyond the more universal appeals that Obama and his campaign typically make to win voters of all types.

In a speech to a Hispanic veterans group in Denver on Friday, Richardson pointed out that Obama, whose father was Kenyan and mother was from Kansas, comes from a "multicultural, multiethnic background like all of us here."

That appears to be part of an attempt to bridge a perceived cultural divide between black and Hispanic communities, said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor of the Cook Political Report.

The message is, "He's more like us than you know," Duffy said.

Polls show Obama has made gains since the early Democratic primaries. A poll last week from the Pew Hispanic Center showed 66 percent of Hispanic voters supported Obama, compared with 23 percent for McCain.

But Obama might need an even bigger advantage to win so-called "red states" like Colorado, political analyst Floyd Ciruli said.

"I think Obama himself has managed to accomplish a great deal in this election cycle so far with his message of being post-racial, above politics, less partisan. So anything that sullies that can cause problems," Ciruli said.

Former Denver Mayor Federico Pena, another leading backer of Obama, defended Richardson's approach.

"I think what the governor was trying to say - and this is what we've said in ads - is Barack has an immigrant experience," Pena said. "A lot of Latinos have an immigrant experience. To that extent there are similarities with new folks coming to this country."

"To be very direct," he added, "we do not talk in terms of minority to minority."

Sandoval said that kind of pitch doesn't work anyway. It takes talking about issues like education and small businesses to win in the politically diverse Hispanic community, he said.

"Doesn't matter who the person is, minority or not, they have to earn our votes," he said.

Comments

  • July 29, 2008

    6:34 a.m.

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    yaakovwatkins writes:

    Voting for or against someone because if their race is racist. Richardson is a hypocrite.

  • July 29, 2008

    7:17 p.m.

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    priscilla writes:

    I'm so sick of these idiots talking down to americans like we don't have a clue. . Hell, we all have an immigrant experience- I'm having one right now. And I don't believe polls. Where's the proof backing their claims. DNC- Hillary's name belongs on the nomination ballot. If Obama is really the chosen one then it shouldn't matter to you. Howard Dean was on the ballot with 167 delegates. Ted Kennedy was on the ballot with 1000 less delegates than Carter. Why are you stealing this election? We know our rights and we will not stop fighting for them.