A Latina’s Perspective of Obama’s Las Vegas Town Hall Meeting

I reside in Las Vegas, and I intend to caucus tomorrow. As an informed Latina voter, it has taken me a long time to decide whom to support but tomorrow I will enthusiastically support Obama.

Yesterday, I attended the Obama town hall meeting held at Rancho High School. The large gymnasium was packed, and it drew a multicultural, multi-generational, mixed class status crowd. As I waited in line with hundreds of others, a Latino union worker with his two young children was interviewed by a local newspaper. I assumed he was singled out because he is Latino and because he looked working class. The reporter asked him whether the Union’s endorsement swayed him to vote for Obama. I was proud of his response. “No, not really,” he said. “I have been paying attention to the candidates, and I like what Obama has to say about health care and education,” he retorted. Besides, he said, turning to his 12 year-old son, my son more than anyone has influenced me because he is excited about Obama.” The reported then turned to the young boy and asked him why he supported Obama, and the young man beamed with pride and said, “most of my classmates support Hillary but I like Obama because I believe that he wants change so that kids can have a better education and better health.”

Latinos voters as well as Black voters have received a great deal of media attention of late in terms of their voter preference. The New York Times reported somehow that Latinos have a hard time supporting Obama because he is Black, while Black voters are said to be divided because he is not Black enough. But I have greater faith that voters of color listen to issues. In fact, I had come to the town hall meeting because a young Latina UNLV student, Evelyn Flores, who had led the student movement organizing the immigration Marches, was there to introduce Obama. Evelyn was working his campaign, as were many more Latino youths who had organized the Marches. These youths believe that the immigration issue is a human rights or a civil rights issue, and they are demanding of their politicians. But they had been inspired by Obama, so much so, that they had also joined his campaign.

So I came because I wanted to be inspired by Obama and to have hope. I had no question that Obama spoke to the important issues already that most voters care about, including myself: Health care, the war in Iraq, Education, and the environment. I was less clear, however, on what distinguished him or whether I could really trust him to move beyond the rhetoric while in office. I also wondered whether he would be brave in addressing the more polarizing issues, including the immigration debate or Guantanamo Bay, and torture. These are not issues that affect everyone, and those affected tend to be more racialized, more marginalized, more vilified. What did Obama have to say about that, I wondered?

So I am an academic and generally not in the “mainstream,” in terms of my demands for change. This means I am not easily impressed. But I walked away with greater conviction about Obama last night. What gave me that? A couple of things. First, Obama, with his great oratory skills, as he had the crowd screaming in support as he spoke about the need to pay higher teacher salaries, get rid of standardized testing, provide health insurance to all, etc., issues that even the words orator can still get a cheer from an audience, also spoke some truths that are harder to say. A few that I recall: he talked about the need to tax income beyond the cut off of $97,000, pointing out that only 3% of Nevadans fall in this group, which is not the middle class. Apparently, his tax plan was criticized by Hillary to mean that he wanted to raise taxes for the middle class. But he said other things that impressed me, and one that did not get as much cheer. For instance, he spoke about the need to protect the border, but not without offering a dignified path to legalization to those who reside and toil in the US. Having had breakfast earlier with one of his committee advisers on issues of national security and immigration, I had greater hope that he was serious about this and more nuanced than the last very compromised immigration reform bill attempted to do. Besides, he supported driver’s licenses for the undocumented in his home state of Illinois because beyond the rhetoric of punishing the immigrant for his “illegality,” he recognizes the human rights dimensions of the issue. He talked about the embarrassment of Guantamano Bay and the need to shut it down. He called what we are doing when we interrogate the detainees by its rightful name: Torture. These things impressed even me.

What also impressed me about Obama is his ability to lead. He has inspired many young voters, for example, to hope and to participate in change. I kind of like the idea of a fresh start in Washington, which does not mean no experience. Obama has been governor, and he is now in the senate. I mean someone who is not “too compromised” by the interests that have governed Washington for too long. I want to have that hope, and I must because change will not be easy.

Raquel Aldana
Professor of Law

In Obama’s Pursuit of Latinos, Race Plays Role

In today’s New York Times, the question of Barack Obama’s connection to the Latino and Latina community is explored. 

(See, ”In Obama’s Pursuit of Latinos, Race Plays Role” By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JENNIFER STEINHAUER, New York Times, January 15, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/us/politics/15hispanic.html?ei=5070&en=07ec5772b9e9aa7a&ex=1201064400&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print).

&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print).

Yet, Barack Obama is a candidate who has actually thought carefully about the needs of Latinos and Latinas.  For instance, in his consideration of educatioonal reform in the United States, Barack Obama supports programs that specifically address Latino and Latina perspectives.  That is why Barack Obama is a co-sponosor of the  Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act., which would allow states to provide in-state college tuition to undocumented students who grew up in the United States, and would also provide a path for these students to earn legal permanent residency. 

Similarly, Barack Obama supports federal funding for migrant education programs that ensure that all migrant students reach challenging academic standards and graduate with a high school diploma that prepares them for further learning and productive employment.  In addition, Barack Obama believes the federal government should be doing more to encourage transitional bilingual education.  He knows that federal spending on bilingual education is stagnating while the number of students who lack English proficiency is growing rapidly.  Barack Obama believes that federal spending on bilingual education should at least keep pace with the expanding need.  

And education is just one of the many issues that Barack Obama has taken the time to consider from the perspective of Latinos and Latinas.  This is a candidate who Latinos and Latinas can gladly claim as their own. 

T.K. Hernandez 

“In Obama’s Pursuit of Latinos, Race Plays Role”

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JENNIFER STEINHAUER

New York Times, January 15, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/us/politics/15hispanic.html?ei=5070&en=07ec5772b9e9aa7a&ex=1201064400&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print

LAS VEGAS — Senator Hillary Rodham Clintonhas eaten beef tacos in East Los Angeles and sat on the living room couch of a working-class family in a largely Hispanic neighborhood here for 30 televised minutes. At a rally of the culinary workers’ union in the shadows of the Strip here one night, Senator Barack Obamapumped his fist and chanted with the crowd, “¡Sí, se puede; sí, se puede; sí, se puede!” or, “Yes, we can!”As the Democratic candidates have moved from courting the overwhelmingly white voters of Iowa and New Hampshire to an expanse of 25 contests facing them in the next few weeks, they confront an electorate that is increasingly Hispanic, in Nevada, California and New York.Although the two candidates aggressively court those voters, who could be vital for Democrats this year and for years to come, the challenge is especially complex for Mr. Obama. It arises as Mrs. Clinton sought to tamp down reaction from Obama supporters to remarks she had made about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Mr. Obama confronts a history of often uneasy and competitive relations between blacks and Hispanics, particularly as they have jockeyed for influence in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.“Many Latinos are not ready for a person of color,” Natasha Carrillo, 20, of East Los Angeles, said. “I don’t think many Latinos will vote for Obama. There’s always been tension in the black and Latino communities. There’s still that strong ethnic division. I helped organize citizenship drives, and those who I’ve talked to support Clinton.”Javier Perez, 30, a former marine, said older Hispanics like his grandmother tended to resist more the notion of supporting an African-American, a trend that he said was changing with younger Hispanics.“She just became a citizen five years ago,” Mr. Perez said. “Unfortunately, that will play a role in her vote. I do think race will play a part in her decision.”Mrs. Clinton’s circle of advisers includes New Yorkers steeped in that history. On her first trip after her victory in New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton flew here, where she was escorted on a tour by prominent Hispanic leaders, including Henry G. Cisneros, a former secretary of housing and urban development, on the “Juntos con Hillary, Una Vida Mejor” tour or “Together With Hillary, a Better Life.”

From here, she flew to a Mexican-American enclave, the East Los Angeles neighborhood, to eat at King Taco, ordered in Spanish by Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, who has emerged as an important supporter.

In Chicago, Mr. Obama was successful in rallying Hispanics to his side and bridging differences with black voters. His success in repeating that is critical.

In 2004, Hispanics accounted for 16 percent of the vote in the California primary; 11 percent in New York, 17 percent in Arizona and 9 percent in Florida. Should he win the presidential nomination, his success at overcoming the history between the two groups will be critical as the Democrats approach an election in which they are looking to lock up the Hispanic vote for decades to come.

As he campaigned in northern Nevada, Mr. Obama acknowledged the challenges he faced.

“I think it’s important for us to get my record known before the Latino community,” he told reporters. “My history is excellent with Latino supporters back in Illinois, because they knew my record.

“Nationally, people don’t know that record quite as well. So it’s very important for me to communicate that, to advertise on Spanish-speaking television, to make clear my commitments.”

Relations between blacks and Latinos vary from place to place and have evolved over the years. Mr. Villaraigosa lost his first effort to become mayor, in 2001, to a white, James Hahn, who won 80 percent of the black vote. In a rematch in 2005, Mr. Villaraigosa was elected with 50 percent of the black vote.

Mr. Villaraigosa said he did not think that Mrs. Clinton’s strength among Hispanics was a product of tensions between the two groups.

“From my vantage point,” he said Monday, “the strength that Hillary Clinton enjoys among Latinos has everything to do with her track record and her longstanding relationship with that community. I think there are tensions among all groups.”

Gov. Bill Richardsonof New Mexico, who just dropped his own campaign to become the first Latino president, said that the rivalry between the two groups had eased and that Mr. Obama could transcend many of the differences as he approached Feb. 5, “what I call the Hispanic primary day.”

He said he might endorse a candidate before Feb. 5, an endorsement that would clearly influence some Hispanics.

If attitudes are shifting, they are moving slowly as so many racial assumptions are challenged.

The Rev. Al Sharptonof New York, who has been on the front line of many of the black-Latino battles in New York politics, said the tension would be a problem for Mr. Obama across the country and in New York, which also votes on Feb. 5. He said Mr. Obama would be at a disadvantage because of his choice to be a “race-neutral candidate.”

“It’s going to be a challenge that he has got to deal with,” Mr. Sharpton said. “There’s a natural history, and we’ve made some progress. But he has not been part of those efforts to make progress.”

In California, Mr. Obama has won backing from Latino lawmakers, some of whom had supported Mr. Richardson, but winning rank-and-file voters will be hard, said the State Senate majority leader, Gloria Romero, Democrat of East Los Angeles.

“Do we have a long way to go?” she asked. “Absolutely. I think there are some tensions on questions of immigration and jobs. But I believe that we have moved forward in a way that the community will embrace an African-American president.”

She said the solution to overcoming the tensions was discussing economic problems of middle- and lower-class blacks and Hispanics like the mortgage crisis, an issue that first Mrs. Clinton and now Mr. Obama have been raising more frequency.

“I don’t think eating tacos,” is effective, she said with a flick at Mrs. Clinton. “We need to address what unites us. The key is not to raise the wedge issue.”

Mr. Obama, some party officials and scholars suggested, may face additional difficulty if Hispanic women respond to Mrs. Clinton’s increasingly strong appeal for support based on sex. A rally here Saturday was packed with Hispanic women who shrieked at seeing Mrs. Clinton.

“The Hispanic community is very family oriented, and we respect our mothers,” said Ruben Kihuen, an influential Democratic assemblyman from Las Vegas who supported Mrs. Clinton. “A lot of middle-aged women see her as a mother, a head of the household, and they can identify with this. Especially when they see her daughter, Chelsea, with her.”

The tensions between Hispanics and African-Americans have increased proportionately with the influx of new Hispanics in areas like the Southwest, experts on the relationships said.

Mexican-Americans and other groups have increasingly migrated to traditionally black neighborhoods, the experts said.

“There have been enormous misunderstandings and conflicts over local resources and political representations between the two groups which simmer right below the surface and sometimes erupt,” said Albert M. Camarillo, founding director of the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity at Stanford.

Hispanic voters, Mr. Camarillo said, “might not go into the direction of the Obama camp.”

Ana Facio Contreras contributed reporting from Los Angeles, and Jeff Zeleny from Reno, Nev.

Richardson Dropping Presidential Bid

Gov. Bill Richardson has dropped out of the Presidential race (see news article below). In his absence, only one of the remaining Democrat contenders has publicly supported the ability of undocumented persons to obtain driver’s licenses, and that person is Barack Obama. As complex and varied as are the positions that Latinos and Latinas take on the immigration debate, one thing many of us can agree on. And that is the need for humane treatment of all immigrants regardless of legal status. Barack Obama may not be Latino, but from his support of the issuance of driver’s licenses to undocumented persons, we can presume that he too understands that denying a driver’s license will not resolve the issues surrounding the immigration debate, but it will certainly harm the undocumented already present in our borders.

Supporting the humanity of all immigrants with concrete proposals is not politically advantageous in our current anti-immigrant climate. But at least one presidential contender has taken a position of integrity. This suggests that Latinos and Latinas will have much to gain by supporting Barack Obama in the January 19th Democratic Party caucus.

TK Hernandez.

 

Richardson Dropping Presidential Bid

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is shelving his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination after back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Richardson, 60, planned to announce his plans Thursday, according to two people close to the governor with knowledge of the decision. They spoke late Wednesday on condition of anonymity in advance of the governor’s remarks.

Richardson campaign officials declined to comment on the governor’s decision, reached after a meeting with his top advisers Wednesday in New Mexico. The governor was believed to have remained in New Mexico after Wednesday’s meeting, but neither his campaign office nor his gubernatorial office issued a public schedule for him Thursday.

With the New Mexico Legislature convening for its annual one-month regular session next Tuesday, there was speculation the two-term governor might announce he was “suspending” his campaign for the time being — rather than formally withdrawing from the race.

Richardson had one of the most wide-ranging resumes of any candidate ever to run for the presidency, bringing experience from his time in Congress, President Clinton’s Cabinet, in the New Mexico Statehouse as well as his unique role as a freelance diplomat. As a Hispanic, he added to the unprecedented diversity in the Democratic field that also included a black man and a woman.

But Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama dominated the spotlight in the campaign, and Richardson was never able to become a top-tier contender, trailing well behind former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards as well.

Richardson fell below 5 percent in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday and came in with just 2 percent in the Iowa caucus last week.

Edwards congratulated Richardson, saying he had run a good race.

There was no immediate comment from the other campaigns.

“He was a very good candidate, a serious candidate,” said Edwards said in Columbia, S.C. “I congratulate him. He ought to be proud of what he’s done. What’s happened is, over time the race is becoming more focused. I think that’s good for democracy. I think this thing’s going on for a long time,” Edwards said.

“I assume the other two (leading candidates) are,” Edwards added. “I know I am. I’m in it for the long haul.”

Richardson was easily elected to two terms as governor but will be forced from office by term limits in 2010. His closest advisers hope that even if his presidential campaign didn’t bring him many votes, it built his reputation so that he’ll one day be able to add even more to his resume.

Associated Press writer Scott Lindlaw in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.