The National Council of La Raza held a national conference in Miami yesterday. According to AP, four Democrat and three Republican presidential candidates were invited, but only two – Clinton and Obama - showed up:
“Romney, fellow Republican candidates Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, and Democratic candidates John Edwards and Bill Richardson were also invited to the four-day La Raza conference but did not attend.”
Clinton and Obama made the right decision to woo the 2,000 delegates at the La Raza event: Smart for the primaries but especially vital for the general election.
More (including a video clip) after the jump…
So far I only find one video clip on YouTube with excerpts from the appearances of Clinton and Obama (on a Spanish-language TV station, with English subtitles added by some right-winger, but that are nonetheless accurate):
The lone comment under the YouTube clip says:
“Just keep forgetting that pesky word ILLEGAL!!!! And since they ARE illegal, they can't vote!!! But of course, the Dems don't care, they are whores for ANY vote, legal or not, how do you think they got back in control of the Senate and the House.”
That winger comment is as mathematically wrong as it is morally reprehensible. The French Press Agency (AFP) added:
“The largest and fastest-growing minority in the United States, Latinos make up a large percentage of the population in several of the key battleground states, as well as in a number of the states that will hold early primaries.”
Donna Brazile and Cornell Belcher have offered a convincing analysis that Hispanic voters moved decisively toward Democratic candidates in the 2006 congressional and senate elections, noting: “Democrats improved their performance by an astonishing 16 points among Hispanic voters in 2006.”
And AFP further notes: “A recent poll showed only 11 percent of Hispanics identified themselves as Republicans, down from 19 percent in 2005.”
In obvious “swing states” like Florida, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado, the potentially decisive role of Hispanic voters ought to be obvious. And don’t be surprised if next year backlash from the defeat of the immigration bill (more to the point: the hate campaign against it) may put even Texas and Arizona into play.
The failure of a single Republican to show has Cuban-American US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) despondent, reports AFP:
"Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, one of the speakers at the conference, was evidently disappointed her party's hopefuls did not show up to court the Hispanic vote in Florida, a state that has played a crucial role in at least two presidential elections.
"'It's a pity they aren't here,' she said, stressing that their messages on issues such as education, crime and jobs would be well received by the Hispanic community. 'There's more than just the immigration issue,' she stressed."
And yet this diarist wonders whether it was fear of the immigration issue that kept even proponents of reform like Edwards, Richardson and McCain away.
But here’s the most significant factor: More than six million potential new Hispanic voters in 2008, over and above the number that already vote. AFP continues:
"Activists hope to further boost the Latino voting power, by urging those who are eligible for US citizenship to seek naturalization.
"'There are six to seven million legal permanent residents here in the United States that are eligible to naturalize, and if these people register, we literally double the Latino vote,' said Navarrete.
"At the conference, some 500 people attended a free citizenship workshop, as part of the naturalization campaign.
"'This unprecedented effort will give Latinos the key to victory in 2008," said NCLR President Janet Murguia."
I wonder if the Democratic National Committee and related 527s are putting enough money behind that potential electoral gold mine. Does anybody here know?
As for the two that did show up, how did Clinton and Obama do?
Associated Press reporter Laura Wides-Muñoz reports:
"Both received strong ovations but were presented in very different settings.
"A relaxed Clinton sat in a turquoise silk jacket for an informal interview with Monica Lozano, publisher of the nation's largest Spanish-language newspaper, during the event's signature Latinas Brunch.
"'I told Monica we should talk like we're two girlfriends, and you just can eavesdrop,' Clinton joked to the audience.
"Asked how her views of Hispanics have been shaped, the New York senator and former first lady recalled registering Hispanic voters in south Texas in 1972."
As for Obama, the AP reporter wrote:
"Obama was introduced with his campaign's reggaeton theme song, a genre that blends Latin and hip hop beats. He cut a more formal presence, standing behind a podium in a dark suit and speaking directly to the crowd before taking questions.
"He linked the civil rights struggles of blacks and Hispanics by quoting a 1968 telegram the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sent Cesar Chavez during Chavez's 25-day fast on behalf of farmworkers.
"'As brothers in the fight for equality,' Obama quoted, 'our separate struggles are really one for freedom, dignity and humanity.''
"That sentiment remains true today, Obama said.
"'If there's a child stuck in a crumbling school who graduates without ever learning to read, it doesn't matter if that child is a Latino from Miami or an African-American from Chicago or a white girl from rural Kentucky, she's still our child, and the struggle is our struggle,' he told the audience."
The New York Daily news reports:
"Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both stressed similar themes — but it was the senator from Illinois whose passion and energy impressed many here.
"David Vera, 58, a deputy fire chief from Phoenix, said he initially leaned toward New York's Clinton. But after hearing Obama at the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights group, he's not so sure.
"'There's an inspiring aura about him. I think he really cares for people in the country,' Vera said. 'I've been kind of looking at Hillary, but I think (Obama's speech) gives me something else to look at.'"
And…
"Clinton stressed her long record with Hispanic issues, recounting how she traveled to Texas 35 years ago to register Hispanic voters.
"'It's not so much reading a briefing book or being handed a policy paper and said, ‘Okay, you know, this is what you should say when you're in front of an audience of Latinos,'' Clinton said. 'Well, no. It's who you are and what you believe in and how you care about all the same things and what we hope for our children.'
"Guillermina Gonzalez, executive director of Voices Without Borders in Wilmington, Del., said she's supporting Clinton because 'she is sincere.'"
The Palm Beach Post reports that Obama struck a strong chord against the Iraq war:
"'We are spending $275 million per day on the war,' he told a crowded hall at the Miami Beach Convention Center. 'It is time for us to start bringing our troops home.' He also told the crowd that Hispanics are over-represented in the military and are at risk. His comments drew one the loudest ovations of the day."
And Cybercast News Service (CNS)
reports:
"'Find out how many senators appeared before an immigration rally last year. Who was talking the talk, and who walked the walk -- because I walked,' Obama said at the National Council of La Raza's annual convention in Miami Beach. 'I didn't run away from the issue, and I didn't just talk about it in front of Latino audiences.' The Illinois Democrat said the recent Senate immigration debate 'was both ugly and racist in a way we haven't see since the struggle for civil rights.' Both Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) told the NCLR that they would work to pass an immigration reform bill as president."
According to The Miami Herald story, the willingness of the two Democratic frontrunners to show up will have consequences for the Republican party:
'''I'm proud to have not one, but two front-runners in the race for president of the United States,'' said Janet Murguia, La Raza's president. 'I think it says a lot about our power and our energy to shape this country.'"