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May 20, 2008

Obama needs to be cautious with Latinos

When Barack Obama strolled over to the “barrio” last week, he took a calculated risk.

There, in the left corner of the House chamber where Hispanic Democrats gather during floor votes, the presidential candidate walked into territory dominated by fierce loyalists of his Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Protocol demanded that Obama not be too pushy, not too ready to act as the “presumptive nominee,” especially on a day when Clinton had vowed to stay in the presidential race despite Obama’s growing tally of votes for the party nomination.

But he is going to need the Latino leaders — really need them — if he heads the Democratic ticket this year. And the Congressional Hispanic Caucus knows it.

Never before has the Hispanic vote been in such high demand in a presidential race, nor has the Hispanic Caucus been so poised to play a significant role.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain — going against the grain of his party’s conservatives — used Cinco de Mayo to reach out to Latinos and unveil a new Spanish-language website.

Clinton got more popular votes than Obama in Arizona, California and Texas, and she won the Nevada caucus because of her huge margin of support among Latinos.

So Obama’s delicate courtship of the Hispanic lawmakers — who favor Clinton by a 4-1 ratio — underscored how vital Latinos will be in picking the next president. When Obama comes calling again, Hispanics will demand that Latino faces and issues be at the forefront of the Democrats’ fall campaign.

Compared with Clinton, Obama will have to work at winning Latino support “probably twice as hard to have significant success,” said Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat and key Clinton ally.

Menendez emphasized that Clinton’s Hispanic supporters in Congress are “not ready” to switch to Obama. (Democratic Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, the last uncommitted House Hispanic superdelegate, just declared for Clinton, who won his southwest Texas district in the March primary.)

“Should Sen. Obama be the nominee, McCain will only be competitive if there’s a lack of a [Democratic campaign] plan, vision, a message and a campaign that understands Latino voters,” Menendez added.
In other words, Hispanics expect money to be spent on Latino staffers, consultants and major media buys in Latino-vote-rich areas to address the disproportionate challenges facing them.

Like other voters, Hispanics want affordable health care. But first, they need an economic stimulus for neighborhood businesses and others who are underemployed so they can have access to health care, said Democratic Rep. Hilda L. Solis, another Clinton supporter from California.

“Obama needs to embrace us more closely and really celebrate our heritage,” Solis said, acknowledging that an Obama nomination would be a “big switcheroo” for Clinton’s Latino loyalists. “We have always been taken for granted [by Democratic nominees]. Now is the opportunity to change that cycle.”
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By GEBE MARTINEZ - Politico

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