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Democratic Presidential Nomination Could Hinge on Divided Latino Vote
Friday, February 1, 2008 :With Super Tuesday just four days away, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are actively courting support from Latino voters across the country. We speak to Dolores Huerta, a longtime labor activist and co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America who is supporting Clinton; Federico Pena, a former Clinton cabinet member and Denver mayor now co-chairing Obama's campaign; and California State Senator Gilbert Cedillo, who is also backing Obama.
With Super Tuesday just four days away, Senators Clinton and Obama are actively courting support from Latino voters across the country. Latinos comprise a major portion of the Democratic electorate in many Super Tuesday states including California, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. In contests so far Clinton has won a large percentages of the Latino vote. In Nevada exit polls show she won more than 60 percent of the Latino vote even though the culinary workers union had backed Obama. In Florida, Clinton won 59 percent of the Latino vote. Obama won only 30 percent.
Clinton has scored several major endorsements from within the Latino community in California including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the pioneering labor activist Dolores Huerta.
Obama supporters in California include Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero and Maria Elena Durazo, the head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. The campaign has even split families. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of California is backing Clinton while her sister, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez is in the Obama camp.
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Clinton has scored several major endorsements from within the Latino community in California including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the pioneering labor activist Dolores Huerta.
Obama supporters in California include Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero and Maria Elena Durazo, the head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. The campaign has even split families. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of California is backing Clinton while her sister, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez is in the Obama camp.
Dolores Huerta, longtime labor activist and co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America with Cesar Chavez.
Federico Peña, co-chair of Barack Obama’s campaign. Under President Clinton he headed the Department of Transportation and served as Secretary of Energy. He is former mayor of Denver.
Gilbert Cedillo, California State Sentaor.
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For more information:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/1/democ...
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The Latino vote may be the most important vote in the scheme of things. It more than likely cost Romney all of Florida’s Republican delegates. And it is now going to be a huge issue for Super Tuesday. Unlike the proportional distribution of delegates in Democratic primaries, Republican primaries (not atypical of the mentality at work here) tend to be Winner Take All (WTA).
This is a pretty serious issue for Republican candidates in the upcoming Super Tuesday primaries, where California, New York, and Illinois represent half of the district-level delegates and a third of the total delegate, with WTA rules applying in New York and California, which account for over a quarter of the total delegates. Not a pretty picture all around.
Both Republican and Democratic primary contenders desperately need these votes--Republicans more than Democrats because of WTA rules. Right now, Republican contenders are being forced to play the “opportunity cost” game: how many Hispanic votes can I afford to lose in exchange for Evangelical votes gained? Romney gambled in Florida and lost that one.
And all of this begs the question of the influence of news media on Hispanic voters. Hispanic voters are voting in increasing numbers. But where do they get their information from? Already one journalist has complained about the fact that everyone comments on behalf of Latino voters—except for Latino voters themselves—myself included! Lovato’s critique is pretty devastating. What is interesting is the fact that it does not look more closely itself at how Latinos have been served by the MSM (including the Spanish-language MSM—yes there is one) on this.
Interestingly, broadcasters like V-Me has decided to raise the bar significantly, and is joining forces with ImpreMedia, the holding company for El Diario and other Spanish-language dailies, to do just that. It appears V-Me & ImpreMedia intend to cover Super Tuesday pretty extensively with 3 hours of coverage that night (10 pm to 1 am), something I’ve been given to understand has never happened before. In addition, V-Me has made a commitment to cover individual election issues 10 P.M. (EST) every Thursday under its Viva Voz desde Washington program, every week once a week, from Super Tuesday up until November. That would around 35+ programs—each on a different topic!
The Hispanic vote has come of age, it appears.
This is a pretty serious issue for Republican candidates in the upcoming Super Tuesday primaries, where California, New York, and Illinois represent half of the district-level delegates and a third of the total delegate, with WTA rules applying in New York and California, which account for over a quarter of the total delegates. Not a pretty picture all around.
Both Republican and Democratic primary contenders desperately need these votes--Republicans more than Democrats because of WTA rules. Right now, Republican contenders are being forced to play the “opportunity cost” game: how many Hispanic votes can I afford to lose in exchange for Evangelical votes gained? Romney gambled in Florida and lost that one.
And all of this begs the question of the influence of news media on Hispanic voters. Hispanic voters are voting in increasing numbers. But where do they get their information from? Already one journalist has complained about the fact that everyone comments on behalf of Latino voters—except for Latino voters themselves—myself included! Lovato’s critique is pretty devastating. What is interesting is the fact that it does not look more closely itself at how Latinos have been served by the MSM (including the Spanish-language MSM—yes there is one) on this.
Interestingly, broadcasters like V-Me has decided to raise the bar significantly, and is joining forces with ImpreMedia, the holding company for El Diario and other Spanish-language dailies, to do just that. It appears V-Me & ImpreMedia intend to cover Super Tuesday pretty extensively with 3 hours of coverage that night (10 pm to 1 am), something I’ve been given to understand has never happened before. In addition, V-Me has made a commitment to cover individual election issues 10 P.M. (EST) every Thursday under its Viva Voz desde Washington program, every week once a week, from Super Tuesday up until November. That would around 35+ programs—each on a different topic!
The Hispanic vote has come of age, it appears.
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