As most of us knew last night before Obama’s text message even went out, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware was selected as his VP running mate. What many probably don’t know, unless they are big political junkies, is that Biden’s campaign manager when he was in the race for president was a Latino named Luis Navarro.

Biden also voted for The DREAM Act, which would have given undocumented youth a chance to gain legal status. He also has voted in favor of comprehensive immigration reform and does not support making English the official language of the United States, appropriately citing that the New Mexico state constitution requires that many documents be provided in both Spanish and English and that the states should determine which languages will be used to inform their constituents.

As for the border fence, Biden voted in favor of it, but he received a low rating from the U.S. Border Control, an anti-immigration lobby. Biden’s score from the U.S. Border Control indicates that he has an open-border stance according to their scale. However, recently Biden has voted against amendments to increase border security funding, leading me to believe that he does not want to militarize the border and may want to utilize various technologies to help control the flow of people migrating or give the states more input in determining how the “fence” will operate.

Biden also has made some insensitive comments about various minorities, so I’m sure that the media will be looking for the next inappropriate comment. When Biden entered the race, he described Obama as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” In New Hampshire, he also said, “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” I am hopeful that Biden will not make any more of these remarks. We all have our own preconceived notions and prejudices, but now, he’s working with the clean, nice-looking guy. And he has worked with Latinos in his campaign before, so I’m hoping that he will have a more successful working relationship with Patti Solis Doyle than did Senator Clinton.

One more thing, Biden is a Catholic, so this may resonate with Catholic Latinos, and this should help Obama with working class Catholics on the East Coast.

McCain is expected to name his VP running mate soon, so it will be interesting to see how Biden faces off with whomever is chosen on the Republican side.

Photo Credit: from Senator Biden’s website

I just hope that Solis Doyle has learned from her mistakes and is ready to work extra hard for the next 4 and a half months.

While some may argue that Solis Doyle ran the Clinton campaign into a deep hole, I think that she might have something to offer Obama. I doubt that she would replace any of his key strategists, but she might be able to assist him in turning out the Latino vote, which Clinton’s operation did very well. She told Politico, “If Barack Obama’s the nominee, I’ll do everything I can to get him elected.” That’s the spirit of unity I like to see.

This damning article in The Atlantic largely reveals the arrogance in the Clinton campaign and the problem with promoting a token Latina who can’t see the forest for the trees. Patti Solis Doyle, the woman who coined the term Hillaryland, was given the role of campaign manager largely because of her loyalty to Senator Clinton and not so much because of her skills. She isn’t a real strategist, that role was left for Mark Penn. Patti Solis Doyle would often say, “When I’m speaking, Hillary is speaking.” How arrogant and frightening!

Solis Doyle was also in charge of fundraising for Senator Clinton’s 2006 reelection bid. In the process, many high powered Clinton advisers were pushed out or fired, while she raked in the dough. Terry McAuliffe even lobbied privately with the Clintons to have Patti Solis Doyle removed two years ago, and current campaign manager Maggie Williams tried to oust Solis Doyle two years ago as well. The Atlantic states, “She [Solis Doyle] was infamous among her colleagues for referring to herself as “the queen bee” and for her habit of watching daytime soap operas in her office.” That’s a sure way to endear yourself to your staffers. I surely wouldn’t like it if any of my bosses referred to themselves as queen or king bees and watched trashy soaps on the job. Patti Solis Doyle could have justified watching C-SPAN or maybe even CNN, which has lately become more dramatic like the daily soaps, but telenovelas?!

Solis Doyle also displayed poor financial management skills with donor funds, as the Clinton campaign burned through more than $30 million for the senate reelection bid in 2006, even though Hillary didn’t face any serious opponents. To create an air of inevitability that Senator Clinton would be the Democratic party’s nominee for the presidency, Solis Doyle promoted the lie that $40-50 million would be left over after the ’06 election to dump into the presidential campaign kitty, when in reality about $10 million was left over.

So what does this mean, and where is the lesson for us? Well, the “world according to Patti Solis Doyle” demonstrates that we Latinos cannot get lazy on the job, especially when the stakes are high. This should go without saying, but we have to think a few steps ahead and not play into our own negative stereotypes that we like cheesy soap operas or cannot manage money. And we should not act like jefes or the patrón and then flaunt any power that we do acquire over our subordinates. This should be covered in management 101, but sometimes we forget because so few of us attain such high profile positions in the American power structure. I’m sure that the feeling of being Hillary Clinton’s alter ego was intoxicating to a degree for Patti Solis Doyle, but it also led to her downfall.

I also think that we as voters need to think about Hillary Clinton as a candidate. She keeps telling us that she will be “ready from day one” to be president, but valuing loyalty over the harsh realities isn’t something that we need in the next presidential administration. We have had a President who has built a tight inner circle that didn’t value dissent or lend much thought to our realities in the world. Can we afford to have this kind of leadership again?

In addition to this rendition of the events, I have found some additional information that suggests that Solis Doyle and the current campaign manager, Maggie Williams were at odds with each other. For all of the hype of the black/brown divide, some have suggested that there was a microcosm of it in Team Clinton. Maggie Williams is an African-American. But I don’t see it this way. Solis Doyle could have been replaced with the blue man, and it still would have stung.

So what does this all mean? Well, you can read into it what you want, but Steve Ybarra, a Latino superdelegate in California, has sent out an e-mail suggesting that he now has “cause to pause” in casting a vote for Senator Clinton. I really think that for people who see loyalty in these terms, he has a good point, especially in light of the upcoming primary in Texas.

Maybe one of these days, Patti Solis Doyle will write a tell all book, and we’ll get her side of the story. I don’t think that I, as a Latina, need to feel overly sympathetic or somehow need to be in solidarity with her or the other Latinas on Team Clinton by supporting their boss or writing fluffy pieces that soften or humanize Hillary Clinton. I’m bothered that she didn’t show up to work in the Senate today to vote against immunity for telecommunications companies who face legal action over wiretapping. Why didn’t she want to fight for us today? Senator Obama found the time to show up.  Maybe this is why…

If I were in the Clinton campaign, I would not have wasted money on such crappy video productions for the campaign such as “Oye Hillary” or “Hillary and the Band.” These really look second rate compared to the video productions that Obama has. Just listen to them, and the distinction is real obvious. [EDITED FOR CORRECTION: "Oye Hillary" was not produced by the Clinton campaign. It came from a volunteer effort. I should also add that I believe both of the Obama videos shown below were produced independently. However, that being said, you can still note the difference in the artistry and kind of inspiration that both candidates evoke.]

But these are more minor issues, I think that as time goes on, the outlook doesn’t look very good for Clinton. It is hard for Clinton to suggest that she’s a real agent of change when she has voted for the war and the Patriot Act twice. She also hasn’t been very clear on the drivers’ licenses for undocumented residents issue. I could go on and on, but I’ll keep this short. I want you to listen to the differences in the video clips below.

As expected, Hillary Clinton performed well with the Latino electorate, but I don’t think that we have proven to be the “firewall.” Obama drew many Latino voters in his home state of Illinois and in Connecticut, and he took more than 40 percent of Latino votes in Arizona. He’s especially gaining momentum with younger Latinos, which I tend to see in my own sphere of influence. I think that younger Latinos can more easily relate to Barack Obama than we can Hillary Clinton. He is closer in age to most Latinos, has an immigrant father, and has two young children, aside from great oratory skills that appeal more to younger voters. It seems that Hillary Clinton has tried to make herself appealing to younger Latinos by sending America Ferrara (aka Ugly Betty) and Chelsea Clinton out to various youth events in the Southwest. Yeah, these two rich girls really resonate with us. How many 20-something Latinos do you know work for hedge funds in Manhattan or star in their own sitcoms?

For more specifics on the Latino vote and additional analysis, I like what Roberto Lovato is saying at the Huffington Post. We are on the same wavelength, and I give him credit for astutely pointing out that Latinos are not a monolithic voting block that can be taken for granted. There is a handful of us in Latino blogsphere who have been saying this for a while now, most notably Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez.

On the Republican side, it looks like John McCain is more than halfway to the finish for his party’s nomination. Ironically, John McCain has a more reasonable stance on immigration relative to the other Republican candidates. So much for the anti-immigration issue folks having a lot of traction in this election cycle.

I also think that it is worth noting that Hillary Clinton had to pump $5 million of her own dollars into her campaign last month, and today a report came out that her top staffers have agreed to work without pay for the month of February, including her Latina campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle. You don’t always get the same kind of work product out of non-paid workers as you do from those receiving pay checks. I also find irony in the Latina working this pro bono, but I’m sure that she has lined her pockets nicely over the course of the campaign. She certainly won’t have to file for unemployment benefits like thousands of other Americans are doing right now. I don’t think that this is a good sign for Clinton and company, but it certainly isn’t over.

You can listen to the gaffe here: “Sí se pueda is right!”

Edited to add: I am not suggesting that any of the presidential candidates have to speak Spanish. I would just hope that when and if they try to speak the language that they get some practice or just double check the basics of pronunciation. Senator Clinton has discussed her work with migrant farm worker children and has made substantial efforts to reach out to Latino voters in this election cycle. By the same token, I do think that Latino-Americans should continue to improve our command of the English language so that we may fully participate in the political system.