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.

by Armando Manzanares

Nevada’s Jan. 19 Democratic caucuses gave Latino activists a rare opportunity to fl ex their expanding political muscle.

Exit polls showed Latin­os made Up 14 percent of the participants and backed Democratic presidential primary winner Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama, 65 percent-20 percent. Clinton won 50.7 percent of the total caucus vote, Obama 45.2 percent.

Some 116,000 people took part in the caucuses, 12 times more than four years ago.

Latinos make up 25 percent of the state’s population, with 12 percent eligible to vote.

The Nevada Democratic Party had engaged in some major Latino voter Initiatives and put the population’s voting power to the test. The date for the Nevada primary was moved up to showcase the Latino vote.

“This is an historic opportunity. We are very proud of the turnout and participation of the Latino community,” Fabiola Rodríguez-Ciampoli, the Clinton campaign’s director of Hispanic communications, told Weekly Report.

She said the effort to mobilize the Latinos in Nevada started last April. “Strong organization on the ground at the very beginning is why we are seeing these results,” she said.

Major marketing campaigns for Spanish-language media were in effect, the Nevada Democratic Party had Spanish-language caller hotlines and outreach programs. Additionally, there was involvement from key Latino politicians both from Nevada and neighboring California.

Nevada is heavily unionized. Its biggest union, the Culinary Workers Union, is 40 percent Hispanic. It endorsed Obama.

One new twist was bilingual caucusing. Large bases of Latinos in Nevada are fi rst generation or foreign born.

Rodriguez-Ciampoli said that those groups of voters were particularly energized because of their sense of civic responsibility to be active the election process.

“This is important to Latinos, to have the freedom to choose. It is the fi rst time some really feel their vote matters and they want to participate,” Rodriguez Ciampoli said.

The next bouts for Democrats come in South Carolina (Jan. 26) and Florida (Jan. 29). Then the Feb. 5 biggie, Super Tuesday, with at least 19 states placing odds on who will be the next Democratic presidential nominee.

As for the pull Latino voters might have in the primaries and caucuses ahead, Rodriguez-Ciampoli said if Nevada is any indication, be prepared. Hispanic Link.­

by Jonathan Higuera

Arizona’s tough new employer sanctions law is leading some residents to leave the state but it may also be forcing some employers to relocate operations to Mexico.

Scattered media reports are finding evidence of both.

The law is designed to discourage hiring of undocumented immigrants by suspending or revoking business licenses of employers caught hiring them.

“It’s certainly not what we need right now,” said Roberto Reveles, past president of Somos América, a coalition of immigrant rights groups. “It’s hurting the state’s economy.”

On Jan. 9, a federal judge said he would make a decision on court challenges to the law by early February.

U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake also signed on to an agreement by both parties that no employer be prosecuted until after March 1.

So far, the law, which took effect Jan. 1, appears to have generated only a handful of complaints against employers around the state, perhaps because many county attorneys said they would not accept anonymous tips.

One exception is Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. He has declined to release a figure as to how many complaints his offi­ce has received.

The law requires employers to use a program called E-Verify to check the hiring status of all new workers.

The computer program screens each worker by using his or her Social Security number against a Department of Homeland Security database. Those caught twice “knowingly” hiring unauthorized workers could have their business licenses permanently revoked.

Attorneys challenging the law argue it does not allow employers a chance to challenge “non-confi rmation” letters they may receive from the E-Verify process.