by Marc Heller
Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama
With Super Tuesday jnow happenning, Latinos are increasingly viewed as the voting bloc that could tip the balance in several key Democratic primary states. Hillary Clinton shot into the lead early, building solid double-digit advantages in states such as California (weekend Zogby poll, 64 porciento-29 porciento, with Barack Obama ahead 45 porciento-41 porciento among all groups there) and New York. The Los Angeles daily La Opinión endorsed Obama Feb. 1.
Clinton established a Hispanic outreach effort months ahead of her rivals. With a stretch rush energized by younger voters, Obama continues to chip away at her Hispanic firewall.
A total of 22 states hold primaries Tuesday, Feb. 5. These also include Arizona, New Jersey (Zogby. Clinton leads among Hispanics (by 19 points), whites (10 points) and trails among blacks (58 points), Illinois and Colorado.
Obama has sharpened his focus in recent days, reiterating his early support for undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses—a position Clinton abandoned last year when it became clear the stance was highly unpopular nationwide collecting a respectable portion of endorsements from Hispanic elected leaders. Several shared the stage with him at a town hall campaign meeting at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College in advance of the pair’s Jan. 31 televised debate.
At that meeting, Obama greeted the crowd with the farmworkers’ slogan, “Sí se puede, sí se puede – yes we can!” It’s a mix of his campaign slogan and the rallying cry for the United Farm Workers in the 1970s and pro immigration marches two years ago.
Obama Is counting on the immigration issue to draw Hispanics from Clinton. In their last debate, he said issuing licenses to immigrants is “the right thing to do,” though unpopular among most of the public.
Clinton, who initially backed such a plan in New York, then reversed course, said immigrants should be eligible for licenses only after gaining legal status—paying a fine, learning English and meeting other requirements that were part of a failed immigration reform package in the Senate.
Some pollsters say Hispanics’ positive view of her husband’s presidency provide the incentive to pick her over a newcomer.
Polls show Clinton ahead by more than 20 points among California Latinos and an even bigger m argin in New Yorh City. Obama may have been sparked to pay more attention after the Nevada caucus, where he lost among Hispanics even though he had been endorsed by the culinary workers union.
Both campaigns launched Spanish-ianguage ads at the end of January in Super Tuesday states.
Clinton’s campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, is a Latina, as is Obama’s national campaign chairwoman, union leader Maria Elena Durazo. Clinton has a popular director of Hispanic communications, Fabiola Rodríguez-Ciampoli, and long ago launched a Web site in Spanish. On Feb 1, she announced that Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina would be her national co-chairwoman.
Clinton has Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on her side, as well as most of the Latino Democrats in Congress, including Sen. Robert Menéndez (D-N.J.) Obama’s endorsements include, in California, state senators Gloria Romero and Gil Cedillo, as well as U.S. Reps. Xavier Becerra and Linda Sánchez.
Linda’s sister, Rep. Loretta Sánchez, has endorsed Clinton.
Obama’s endorsement by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) could help build support in the Hispanic community, especially among oldervoters. Both campaigns sought the endorsement of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who so far has remained neutral, although he did watch the Super Bowl with Hillary Clinton’s husband. Hispanic Link.
