Obama courts Latino voters in LA
By Susan Milligan
Globe staff
LOS ANGELES -- Faltering in opinion polls among Latinos, Barack Obama took his campaign yesterday to heavily Hispanic south Los Angeles, telling a crowd made up mainly of technical college students that the struggles of blacks and Hispanics are the same.
``In the past few weeks, we've heard some cynical talk about how black and white and Latino folks cannot come together,'' Obama told a crowd a boisterous crowd of about 1,000 at LA Technical Trade College. ``I am reminded of the Latino brothers and sisters I worked alongside on the streets of Chicago decades ago,'' Obama said, recalling his days as a community organizer helping displaced steel workers.
``One of the things that happened when the plants closed was that everybody lost their jobs'' -- blacks, whites and Latinos, he said. ``Because people were divided, they felt disempowered, and sometimes they turned on each other.''
But ``if we could bring people back together...they could recognize themselves in each other,'' the Illinois lawmaker said.
Obama has trailed far behind New York Senator Hillary Clinton among Latino voters, a factor which helped put Clinton over the top in the Nevada caucuses last month. Obama is trying to shore up his relationship with Latinos ahead of Feb. 5, when many states with substantive Hispanic populations will hold primaries.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy yesterday stumped for Obama in New Mexico. The Obama camp hopes Kennedy's stamp of approval will help the Democratic presidential contender among Latinos, because Kennedy has a strong relationship with Hispanics. Many Latinos feel very close to the Kennedy family, said Cecelia Munoz, senior vice president of the National Council of La Raza.
Obama pointedly noted his involvement in the immigration debate, a politically radioactive issue many other presidential candidates have largely avoided. ``We are a nation of laws, but we are also a nation of immigrants,'' Obama told the crowd, which yelled, ``si, se puede!'' -- yes, we can -- to punctuate Obama's remarks.
``My father, when he came here ... he, um, he didn't look like he came off the Mayflower,'' said Obama, whose black father was from Kenya. The candidate wondered aloud why people were so focused on immigrants coming from south of the border, instead of from Poland or Ireland.
But if Obama was hoping his ``town meeting'' would turn into a Dr. Phil-style encounter about race relations between blacks and Latinos, he didn't get one. The audience -- which included mainly Latinos and African-Americans -- asked about education, Darfur, Latin America policy and what qualities he'd like in a vice president. The last question brought a collective chuckle from the crowd, but Obama didn't bite.
``It's a little too early'' to speculate on that, Obama said. He added that he would make appointments to his administration who will restore ``competence and respect'' to government. As for the second-in-command, ``I want a candidate and a vice president that is reflective of the country,'' he added, without elaborating.
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Hillary Clinton's positions on the issues are all based on political expediency with the goal of being president. Like her husband, she has no attachment to any position, no leadership qualities and no legal, ethical or moral compass to guide her. Also like her husband, she will need to rely on the polls to guide her to a position.
The U.S. needs a uniter not a divider for President as the global economy teeters on the brink of economic meltdown not unlike the Great Depression.
Afterall the Roaring Twenties decade that preceded the Great Depression, like the Irrational Nineties that preceded our current decade, were both a golden age for technology, scandal-plagued politicians, corporate greed, and unrestrained personal debt and speculation.
Oh, good grief!
Obama is not "faltering in opinion polls among Latinos." To be faltering, says Merriam-Webster, he would have to "lose drive or effectiveness." He has, however, struggled in the polls. The difference, you see, is that every national and California poll that breaks out Hispanic voters in its crosstabs has shown a marked increase in support among Hispanic voters over the past week. So if there's momentum in this extremely varied demographic, it's with Obama.
Then, there's this gem of a graf: "But if Obama was hoping his ``town meeting'' would turn into a Dr. Phil-style encounter about race relations between blacks and Latinos, he didn't get one." What on earth would make you think that Obama was hoping his town hall meeting would devolve into a daytime talkshow spectacle? The man almost never addresses race directly. When he raises the issue, he does so eliptically, as in the quote you present. ("he didn't look like he came off the Mayflower.") It's a calculated strategy. The last thing a black candidate needs to do in front of an Hispanic audience is to draw its attention to racial tensions.
Then, there's the article's badly flawed premise, namely that there's a demographic group out there named "Latinos." In fact, it's a cluster of very different groups, sharing little beyond a language. The tough-on-Castro Cubans in Florida have almost nothing in common, politically, with the socially-liberal Dominicans of New York. For the most part, this article seems to be talking about the predominantly Mexican-American communities of the Southwest. It should say so explicitly.
Finally, a word of advice. Instead of calling up the National Council of La Raza, which reliably issues meaninglessly bland statements, you might do well to turn on the radio. In the past 24 hours, two major talk radio hosts have taken a liking to Obama. Ted Kennedy put in an apperance on El Piolin yesterday morning during drive time, and Obama himself later went on El Cucuy de la Maņana. These are among the most popular radio programs, in any language, in America - and were the motive forces behind the enormous turnout in the immigration reform rallies. If you want to gauge whether or not Obama is succeeding in making inroads in the Mexican-American community in California, where Hillary has previously run most strongly, you might take a look at the crowd this morning at East Los Angeles Community College. If it's a paltry 1500 again, you can write Obama off in the Golden State. But if his radio appearances have been changing hearts and minds, it'll be more like 10,000 - and that will be awfully interesting. I couldn't say which way it will go, but I'll be watching.
I JUST WITNESSED OBAMA'S MINISTER ON NATIONAL T'V MAKING A VERY RACIST REMARK TOWARDS CAUCASIANS, AND IT WAS TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR, TO ME, A VOTER OF PARTLY CAUCASIAN DECENT-
--------HE USED THE PHRASE "in this country, the 'U.S.of K>K>K>--A."---if that was not a badly spoken racist remark, I do not know what would be???!!!! i AM TRYING TO KEEP THE WORD'S "RACIST, BIGGOTED, AND PREJUDICED" OUT OF MY LIFE, BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC----TO HEAR SUCH A STATEMENT AS THAT MINISTER MADE ON NATIONAL TELEVISION, WELL-----MR. OBAMA NEEDS TO FIND ANOTHER CHURCH, CAUSE THAT MINISTER IS SHOWIN THE WRONG "FACE" FOR OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN TO DO ANY GOOD!!!GOD HELP THEM BOTH.