Posted on 01/26/2008 11:04:09 AM PST by VU4G10
SACRAMENTO, Calif. --Bidding for Hispanic support in California's upcoming primary, Barack Obama describes himself in a Spanish-language television ad as the son of an immigrant whose success is a beacon to others.
"This is your country," a narrator says in the ad that began airing Friday in Los Angeles. "Don't let anyone or anything take away those dreams."
But it is an older, more familiar success story - that of the Clintons - that seems to be holding sway among most California Hispanics. They will play a key role in deciding the Democratic winner.
As the wife of the former president, Hillary Rodham Clinton has an almost dynastic appeal to Hispanic voters, many of whom came of voting age during the economic good times of Bill Clinton's presidency.
The New York senator leads Obama 3-to-1 among Hispanics, according to a recent survey by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.
"There is very much a comfort zone with the name and the family, and a very comfortable remembrance with Clinton's eight years in office," said Jaime Regalado, director of the Pat Brown Institute at California State University, Los Angeles.
By contrast, he said, most Hispanics know little about Obama, who only appeared on the national scene four years ago, when he was elected a U.S. senator from Illinois.
While Obama has come to California to raise money and hold the occasional campaign event, he has not been able to make much of an impression among rank-and-file voters, who do not tune into the race until the final weeks before an election.
Clinton, meanwhile, has been able to draw on 16 years in the national spotlight.
Earlier this week, she traveled across the country for a one-day visit to Salinas to accept the endorsement of the United Farm Workers, which was started by Cesar Chavez.
The UFW's star has dimmed since its heyday in the 1970s, and its endorsement may be more important for its symbolism than for its ability to mobilize voters, given that most farm workers are immigrants who cannot vote.
But it gave Clinton the opportunity to assert her strength among Hispanic voters, who are expected to make up as many as one in four of those casting Democratic ballots in the Feb. 5 election.
Like whites, Hispanics are somewhat split along generational lines over the Democratic race, with young voters gravitating toward the promise of Obama and older ones attracted to the experience of Clinton, according to analysts.
But some cite another possible reason for Clinton's dominance: the disinclination of some Hispanics to vote for a black candidate. Tensions between the two groups have been intensified by competition for jobs and political power as Hispanic immigrants have moved into black neighborhoods.
"Perhaps, because he's an African-American, there might be reluctance there, too," Regalado said.
In any case, Clinton's status as the early front-runner induced most of the Hispanic political establishment to hop aboard her campaign. Supporters include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, along with a long list of lesser-known political figures.
One political family - the Sanchez sisters, who have been elected to Congress from Southern California - split.
Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who represents Orange County, chose Clinton. Rep. Linda Sanchez, who represents communities south of Los Angeles, went with Obama.
Obama also won a key endorsement from Maria Elena Durazo, who is known among Hispanics across the country as the head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
Durazo said she was taken by Obama's life story as the child of a white single mother and an African immigrant father. And she was impressed by his choice after graduating from Columbia University to work as a community organizer in Chicago, as well as his decision after being elected to the U.S. Senate to march with immigrant activists on May Day.
"I wanted to make sure that anyone I endorsed would give me the most confidence that when that person would get into the White House that we wouldn't have been treated as just a campaign stop or a campaign promise," said Durazo, who took a two-week vacation from her union duties to campaign for Obama.
She cited his position in favor of giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants as a reason why Hispanics should consider voting for him over Clinton, who waffled on the issue before opposing it.
But, Durazo acknowledged, Obama faces an uphill climb among Hispanics in California, much to the frustration of the Hispanic activists who support him.
"I am getting so many phone calls and e-mails from Latino activists," she said. "They say we have to be out there and do something to voice our opinion to show that there is a big distinction."
Hittlery and the Latino Nazi flag.
Hillary will tell any lie in order to seize power !
yeehaa! andale ndale fastest mouse this side of mejico!
The Obama pere was in the States to study, not an immigrant.
Hillary Clinton to Hispanics: “Hello-o I’m-o your-o friend-o! Please-o vote-o for-o me-o! Thank-o you-o!”
At least this author wasn't stupid enough to say "16 years of experience".
“Si Se Puede” has been the official slogan of the pro-Aztlan crowd for years.
And most hispanics I know in L.A. are not very comfortable with blacks. The same racism which benefits Obama in S.C. will help Hillary in CA.
¡Golpee el camino Gato y no se vuelva!
Thankfully, none of the GOP Candidates are pandering for Hispanic Votes. /sarcasm
The dems and McCain, birds of an amnesty feather.
05/18/2007 -— How soon we forget.....
“During a meeting Thursday on immigration legislation, McCain and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) got into a shouting match when Cornyn started voicing concerns about the number of judicial appeals that illegal immigrants could receive, according to multiple sources — both Democrats and Republicans — who heard firsthand accounts of the exchange from lawmakers who were in the room.
At a bipartisan gathering in an ornate meeting room just off the Senate floor, McCain complained that Cornyn was raising petty objections to a compromise plan being worked out between Senate Republicans and Democrats and the White House. He used a curse word associated with chickens and accused Cornyn of raising the issue just to torpedo a deal.
Things got really heated when Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy campaigning for president to take part in the negotiations, which have gone on for months behind closed doors. “Wait a second here,” Cornyn said to McCain. “I’ve been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You’re out of line.”
McCain, a former Navy pilot, then used language more accustomed to sailors (not to mention the current vice president, who made news a few years back after a verbal encounter with Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont).
“[Expletive] you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room,” shouted McCain at Cornyn. McCain helped craft a bill in 2006 that passed the Senate but couldn’t be compromised with a House bill that was much tougher on illegal immigrants.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1836042/posts?page=1
Obama is easier to listen to than Hillary but the stuff he says is at least as bad. The democrat candidates make ours look like Lincoln and Einstein.
“This is your country,” ????? So the democrats want to give our country away? That should tell you where we are heading if they get elected.
So why would any candidate running for a Federal office try to get votes from people who do not speak English unless they are encouraging those people to vote illegally. They wouldn't be wiving for the illegal vote would they?
That’s the deal they are making with La Raza. The Dems will give the Southwest back to Mexico when she wins the election as reward for their support.
Our civil war is just around the corner. Who would have guessed it would take a woman to get it started. California will be cut into North and Southern states with the South, Arizona, New Mexico, and Western Texas going to Mexico.
What the deal excludes is all of the gun owners who will take a very active part in protecting their homes.
Whadda WE want? “RECONQUISTA!!!!, When do we wannit?
NNNNOOOOWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mexicans are prejudiced against Blacks. Hillary: The Bigot’s Choice
The Answer: YES.
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