Note* This is not just a comment, but also a bit of a rant and a call to action. So, before hand I’ll graciously ask readers of this fine blog, to please indulge me!

As Latinos we should not expect to receive, merit, garner or dare I say be “awarded” a significant amount of cabinet posts within an Obama administration.

Although, Yes!, as Latinos we can easily point out how our vote placed at a minimum 6 states solidly in the win column for Obama, the fact is that many other groups also claim credit for Obama’s historic win.

As sloedadenmasa’s link to the Politico.com article points out, we can list the Blacks, Organized Labor Unions, the Jewish Democratic Council, advocacy groups like MoveOn.org, RockTheVote, Markos Moulistas, the Young Voters, etc and on an on it goes.

Perhaps, we should throw our collective weight around and let it be known that we expect, say Richardson get the nod for SoS, but it’s also up to those Latinos who garner cabinet positions to do what they can to promote other Latinos to posts within the administration, just like all other groups have done for each other. Hell, without some degree of nepotism there is not possible way that J. Myers could have ever possibly head ed ICE, but that’s a topic for another day.

Perhaps it’s just me, but I’m of the opinion that as Latinos, we simply just need to field more and better qualified Latinos for elected office. There is probably no better time than now.

Never in the course of history had a candidate taken his message of “Change” to the masses and been elected into public office by such masses. The Obama campaign learned and borrowed heavily from the Howard Dean and John Kerry campaigns of 2004, add to that a fundamental generational shift between the Obama and McCain campaigns about embracing social media tools and the internet to raise funds, organize and spread a candidates message.

I’m convinced that as Latinos we can do better at fielding Latino candidates for elected office. The percentage of eligible voters is rapidly increasing in our favor with some 40,000 Latinos children reaching the age of 18 years every month, the challenge is continuing to encourage not only them to register to vote, but also actually getting them to vote and participate in the electoral process.

As media shifts continue to occur and more people digest their news and information from the internet and mobile devices, we as bloggers can greatly contribute to the vetting process of candidates and shaping issues.

The internet, SMS, text and mobile devices have reshaped the political landscape. We are no longer dependent on powerful political machines or power brokers to field a “worthy Latin@ candidate”.

We can and should start urging more talented and qualified Latinos amongst us to make the sacrifice and run for political office, despite the fact that we may become, as census projections indicate the majority in 2050, the future of our communities depend on it.

That was a very good article. I’ve been busy so I guess I missed it. But I read the Politic often to see what the “right” has to say.

I found this piece thought it is worth a read by everyone.

…and WE ALWAYS FALL FOR IT!

And yes, you have a good point…everytime the Latino moves or surges to gain some power at higher office levels or on its own Civil Rights, we get countered and or cornered into some other movement un-related to ours, like say Gay Marriage, Abortion and yes woman’s issues…it’s tactics like these that sway us from the real issues at hand like true Latino representation that isn’t shunned upon (can you say Cisneros and or Villar more recently).
Ok, i’ll get off my soap box…very good input Mexitli!

One word: Colonization.

Que otro tenemos?

The U.S. intelligence community succeeded in morphing Chicano studies into woman’s issues.

But that’s a different topic.