This week John McCain formally launched his Latino outreach efforts with a Spanish language website, and he announced that he would attend the National Council of La Raza convention in July. Attending the NCLR meeting is a step in the right direction since Republican candidates in the primaries skipped nearly all of the major Latino group summer conventions and meetings in 2007. Senator McCain also expressed that he wanted to reach out to Latinos, while acknowledging that the tone of the immigration debate has harmed Republicans in their efforts to reach out to our community.
McCain also has avoided taking on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has taken it upon himself to enforce immigration laws and policies, although he has been accused of racial profiling in his sweeps.
I feel that McCain would show more credibility with Latino voters if he actually challenged Sheriff Arpaio to stop his immigration sweeps. In the past, McCain has been supportive of comprehensive immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented. When immigration reform did not pass last year, McCain resigned to the political reality and instead took on border security as an issue.
Some Latinos feel that McCain’s new emphasis on border security instead of comprehensive immigration reform or attempting to alleviate some of the economic conditions that fuel immigration could backfire. McCain has gone on record indicating that he doesn’t know much about the economy, so without any quick lessons, I doubt that he’s going to take the economic refugee approach. He really is in a bind here, but I give him credit for trying to reach out. He could just as well ignore us altogether.
In the Democratic race this week, Barack Obama won North Carolina and barely lost to Hillary Clinton in Indiana. He now leads in superdelegates and has added to his lead in pledged delegates. Given his status as the presumptive nominee, I am discouraged by the latest remarks from the Clintons.
Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton said, “I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on. Senator Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me . . . There’s a pattern emerging here.” Yes, there is a pattern emerging here Senator Clinton. You keep putting your foot in your mouth regarding race and ethnicity, and then your husband has the audacity to say that the race card is being played on him and you. And white Americans aren’t the only ones who are working hard. Remember all of the Latinos who have worked hard for you during this campaign, and all of the other Americans who don’t happen to be white who are working hard in this country.
But wait, just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Bill Clinton has been campaigning in West Virginia, where he has been promoting the idea that Obama is an elitist who mocks rural America. What purpose, other than to get a dig in at Barack Obama, do these comments from Bill serve? Who is the elitist here? Last time I checked Bill Clinton had a higher net worth than Barack Obama. Bill Clinton probably has more friends in high places than does Obama, and he certainly did not retire back in Arkansas. He left rural America for Washington, D.C. and NYC. And I don’t fault Bill Clinton for leaving rural America or for making millions of dollars, but does he know when it is time to stop? Or can he think beyond this primary race that is nearly over and look towards John McCain?
I really have to wonder why Team Clinton now insists on painting itself as the savior of white, working class America when it was supportive of many economic policies that were not exactly beneficial to this constituency. They don’t dare bring up NAFTA or their connections to Wal-Mart, which have negatively impacted small towns and working class factory workers. And then, you factor in the timing of these remarks. Obama has pretty much locked up the nomination with both pledged and superdelegates. Even if Hillary Clinton wants to stay in the race until the last primary, which she has every right to do so, why does she have to do this? She should set her sights higher and target John McCain, whose elitist credentials look to be pretty impressive, given his wife’s fortune and Naval academy legacy.
17 responses so far ↓
1 pocos pero locos // May 11, 2008 at 8:40 am
Having read this article. I was shocked and disasppointed by the comments made by Candidate Clinton. As so many other latino dems, I have been energized by this campaign. In the last few months, the attacks of Clinton surrogates like Bill and Geraldine Ferraro have shown a darker side to their zeal for the nomination.
2 Sophia Lanier Lopez // May 12, 2008 at 9:04 am
I think this democratic race has been one of the most telling in years. I do believe the people are telling the democcratic candidates what they want. I think what they want is a rip roaring, barn burning democratic convention in Denver like the old days. As a nation we have become so complacent with politics, it does my heart good to see that the people, yes the people who have voted in every democratic primary so far have been clear that they want this to go on to Denver. I say, the voters are speaking and let them have their say all the way to the democratic convention. After all it is the American way, isn’t it. All this talk that this kind of campaigning is hurting the race is shortsighted I think it is going to refresh the Democratic party with free thinkers who aren’t going to listen to the pundits that keep trying to tell us how it has to be. I’m looking forward to a great, history making convention in Denver this year!
3 jammer // May 12, 2008 at 11:51 am
confusing…, starts out as a dig against McCain and ends up as a dig against the Clintons. Your bias is showing. It will be interesting to see who fools latino voters more McCain or Obama. For latinos its always been the promise of a chicken in every pot only to discover the chicken droppings after the candidate has taken their votes. The Dems are now reaping what they sowed with the rules they established for the campaigns. How unfair is it to set up rules where not everyones vote counts,(ie,Florida, Michigan) and some special people get to vote twice(superdelegates). Why don’t I get to vote twice? Howard Dean has been the worst party chairman in the history of the Democratic party to have allowed such rules.
4 webmaster // May 12, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Jammer,
The topic states that the Clintons don’t know when to stop. If they want to run as the Dem nominee, why aren’t they attacking John McCain about his elitist credentials? He poses more of a threat with his boasts of 100 years of war than does Barack Obama.
All of the Democratic presidential candidates agreed to those rules w/ the superdelegates. Howard Dean did not create superdelegates. Superdelegates have been in existence in the Democratic Party since 1982. You might want to read this link for reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate
Florida and Michigan broke the rules, not Howard Dean.
I hope this clarifies things for your understanding.
5 jammer // May 12, 2008 at 2:14 pm
webmaster, are you a superdelegate? and why shouldn’t you be? Who says that Donna Brazile is more worhty then you and why should she have 2 votes to everybody elses 1? The Republican system is a brutally efficient one , one person one vote. winner takes all. Whats wrong with that?
6 webmaster // May 12, 2008 at 2:43 pm
No, I am not a superdelegate.
I agree, the system is unfair and rather inefficient. However, all of the candidates knew the rules and agreed to them when this race started (meaning Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, Kucinish, Biden, etc). Clinton herself even said this earlier this year, “You know, it’s clear the election they’re having isn’t going to count for anything. Obama’s name did not even appear on the ballot in Michigan.”
All of a sudden, she wants to change her position and bend the rules mid-course. We don’t change the rules in the middle of the game in sports contests or in other elections. If we did, we would have to void the results and start over again.
The more important question is: Why weren’t registered Democrats doing anything about this rigged system before it came to the point we are at now? We have had superdelegates for over 25 years.
I think that placing the blame squarely on Howard Dean for this superdelegate mess is unfair because other Democratic chairmen have had time to deal with it and chose not to.
7 Michaelr // May 12, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I agree with Jammer the whole Superdelegate voting system reeks of elitism. It’s just another way to keep the masses from overwhelming the aristocracy. Without the mass propaganda spewed by the news and radio media and shown on network and cable Television, the American political machines could never survive the lies they tell over and over again to the American public. Just goes to show you, the Democrats and the Republicans are more alike than people want to admit. The Republicans have no shame publicly displaying and conveying their racial bigotry to the world, while they loot the American taxpayer, and take care of their Fortune 500 sponsors at the same time. The Democrats like to complicate all the major political issues while they embrace the poor and disenfranchised, spend hundreds of millions of dollars trashing each other, and create more and more elaborate electoral processes even when the next U.S. President has already been picked at the last Council of Foreign Relations committee meeting in New York and will be introduced at the next MobilExxon board meeting. Check your calendars to see if Hillary will be making an appearance in Houston, Texas in two weeks. No one needs another four years of the Bush Doctrine to continue here and abroad. Is Howard Dean really in charge of this Superdelegate mess?
8 jammer // May 13, 2008 at 9:40 am
let me try to figure this Howard Dean connection. He runs a messed up campaign for president as a candidate. Now he is at the top of a really screwed up democratic campaign(hello prez. McCain). Am I the only one who has problems with this guy?
9 webmaster // May 13, 2008 at 11:05 am
Howard Dean has done a lot to energize the Democratic Party. He has proposed and initiated the 50 state strategy, whereby the Democratic Party commits to winning races at all levels across the country. He isn’t focusing on only the big states. Look what happened in the Post-Carter era, where the Republicans started to really build up in the South. One thing we have learned is that Americans continue to migrate across this country. Ignoring some states in favor of others is not a good long term strategy.
The Democratic Party really started to slide in the Reagan years and even during the Clinton years when the Dems lost the Congress and the House back in ’94.
It is going to take years for the Democrats to build their base again, but we are making progress. We have a Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama who is using internet technologies to become a fundraising giant.
If you have problems with Howard Dean, I encourage you to continue speaking out on this blog and to call you local, state and national democratic headquarters. It is rumored that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi didn’t want Howard Dean to become the DNC chair back in ’06. However, would you have felt more comfortable with one of their choices? Many in the party feel that Reid and Pelosi aren’t the best advocates.
Remember Howard Dean says, “Democracy is not a spectator sport.” I have been involved in numerous campaigns over the years registering voters, knocking on doors, making phone calls, etc. What have you done in the current election cycle beyond voting to support your local Democratic candidates?
PMG!, another reader of this blog, has met Howard Dean and engaged with him personally. Hopefully, she will chime in here and give you some of her perspective.
10 Barrio Abogado // May 14, 2008 at 11:00 am
Hmm…we have reached the point where, after more than 16 months, two dozen debates, hundreds of speeches, millions of dollars, and countless chicken dinners, the rationale for electing someone boils down to this: Vote for me. I’m white. I can win because other whites will vote for me.
Whatever happened to merit?
Meanwhile, some voters are turning themselves inside out to come up with excuses for why they’re not supporting Obama. It seems like just yesterday that these folks were arguing there is no racism in the immigration debate, and now they’re insisting there is no racism in the presidential election.
Interesting isn’t it.
Let’s give her an exit strategy to leave the campaign trail with grace and dignity and get on with the campaign between McCain and Obama.
11 maria // May 14, 2008 at 1:39 pm
In reading this article it almost sounds like it was written by the Obama campaign.
Although you might not want to admit the truth, Obama is for the Elite and Corporate America.
He has sided with the Credit Card companies and voted to increase the credit card interest rates to 30% and higher, Senators Clinton and Edwards voted against it.
Obama tried to re-write the existing Nuclear Energy legislation so that it would favor the nuclear giant Exelon and hurt the American people. The current legistlation REQUIRED that all nuclear leaks be reported. However, Obama tried to help Exelon by changing the wording so that it would only SUGGEST that nuclear leaks be reported.
Obama has proven time and time again that he cannot be trusted and is NOT for the Latinos or hard working Poor and Middle Class America.
Hillary Clinton is and that is why this Latina and millions of Latinos support Hillary Clinton and will continue to support her all the way to the election!
12 jammer // May 14, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Here’s a novel idea! why not wait until everyone has a chance to vote before we push anyone out. There are still a couple of states and Puerto Rico who would like to be counted. Am I the only one who remembers that people wanted Harry Truman to quit in 1948? Remember the headlines “Dewey defeats Truman” ?Que Paso?
13 webmaster // May 14, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Maria,
Why do you think that Hillary Clinton is for Latinos? Haven’t you looked at her relationships with Tyson Chicken and Wal-Mart? You might want to read this:
http://latinopoliticsblog.com/?p=133
I will admit that Obama has flaws too (and I don’t feel comfortable with his energy policy yet), but at this point, the math isn’t in Hillary Clinton’s favor. In addition, her campaign is in debt. Do you want to elect a president who cannot run a fiscally sound campaign?
And Maria, while Obama has supporters in the elite, how do you refute the fact that he has built a base of small donors? His donor database has 1.5 million people, many of whom give small donations. The majority of Hillary’s donors are big money people who have tapped out the legal limit. There is an article in this month’s Atlantic outlining the strength of Obama’s fundraising, and if people giving $25 or $50 here or there are the elite, then we must have very different concepts of what elite and average are.
Maybe these Latinos who are supporting Hillary are giving the maximum donation in this election cycle. If you really want to support her, give her money, her operation needs it.
14 Michaelr // May 14, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Barack Obama an elitist? He has a Kenyan father, and a WASP mother. Talk about social isolation, and then he has an African name. He was a community organizer and a university lecturer before he embarked on this road to become the Democratic nominee for President. Maybe you should read more into Hillary Clinton, and try to further understand the nuances of political dialogue before you spew your ignorance online. Turn off that telenovela and read about Hillary’s crimes against human beings with DNA similar to yours and mine.
15 PMG! // May 14, 2008 at 9:00 pm
The DNC has VERY little control over the campaigns of either presidential candidates. From speaking to several, They wished this race to be over a while ago, it has been a disaster in many many ways… (Case in point, NPR and other news organizations are MAJORLY running over budgets covering all this nonsense and it’s not even 1/2 way through the election year…)
Anyway, if you are looking for a Democratic group to scorn for all of this… how quickly people forget about the DLC
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_sub.cfm?kaid=137&subid=900111
Both Hill and Bill owe them A LOT… and they are the type of group to make sure they don’t forget it…
16 ListenToLeon // May 16, 2008 at 9:33 am
Basically, the Clintons will say just about anything to get into the White House. That’s what this Democratic race has shown me. It sucks, because I think Hillary is shrewd and brilliant…But I personally can’t respect much of the tactics she and Bill have resorted to while campaigning to win the nomination.
I do think John McCain is smart for coming to the NCLR convention, but he’s going to have to walk a very thin tightrope in order to appease both Latino voters AND conservative Republicans. I don’t see it happening…
17 Philip // May 19, 2008 at 10:15 pm
MARK MY WORDS>>>> Mccain will be the first presidential canidate to carry the latino vote.
Viva Mccain
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