Thread: Angelides campaigns at key Latino gathering

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn ... 468879.htm

Posted on Fri, Sep. 08, 2006

Angelides campaigns at key Latino gathering

By Edwin Garcia
MediaNews Sacramento Bureau

LOS ANGELES - Hoping to retain favorable support from Latino voters, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides late Thursday addressed one of the largest and most significant Latino gatherings in the nation in three decades.

The National Latino Congreso has brought together more than 1,600 community leaders, activists and elected officials to discuss how to achieve social, political and economic change. Electoral participation is one of the pillars of the five-day convention.

But despite the scope of the convention -- deemed ``historical'' by organizers -- Angelides, a keynote speaker, largely stuck to his standard campaign speech but inserted the word ``Latino'' in key phrases.

``It's time to help hard-working middle-class families, like the millions of Latinos who make this state's economy strong,'' he told more than 600 people at the capacity-crowd dinner. ``We find families, millions of Latino families, working hard at one job, sometimes two, just to stay even.''

The convention was organized by some of the largest Latino advocacy groups in the nation, such as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the William C. Velásquez Institute and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Groups like these last got together for a similar event in the 1970s, propelled by the civil rights movement.

``This hasn't happened in over 30 years,'' said Michael Bustamante, a spokesman for the event.

Among the highlights of the convention are speeches by well-known business and political figures, many of them from California, including Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and congressional representatives from Southern California.

The stated themes at the convention are voting rights and election reform, social justice and economic equality, the environment and justice for immigrants.

The convention also provides candidates such as Angelides with an opportunity to address one of the largest Latino audiences before the Nov. 7 election.

``It's a matter of standing in front of the community and asking for their vote,'' Bustamante said.

Angelides' opponent, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was invited but did not attend the convention. He was not alone. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson also were invited but passed.

Schwarzenegger's campaign aides said his absence doesn't diminish the governor's aggressive courting of Latino voters, most of whom are Democrats and who number nearly one in five California voters.

``Latinos -- like voters from all communities in California -- appreciate the governor's optimistic message and vision,'' Olga Gallardo, a deputy press secretary for Schwarzenegger's re-election effort, said in a statement.

``Whether it's holding the line on taxes, funding our schools at record levels, protecting our children or making health care more affordable,'' Gallardo said, ``Latino voters and the governor share a commitment to this state's future.''

Angelides played the speech like others: emphasizing his grandparents' immigrant roots, offering tax breaks to middle-class families and criticizing Schwarzenegger for raising college tuition.

He said little to specifically address a Latino audience, but what he did won loud applause, as when he vowed to sign legislation so illegal immigrants can apply for driver's licenses ``because it's the right thing to do.''

And Angelides did something he rarely, if ever, has done in public: He introduced his daughter, Megan, by the last name of her biological father, Garcia.

Schwarzenegger was elected in 2003 with overwhelming help from Latinos, but that support has dropped significantly, according to recent public opinion surveys.

While Schwarzenegger has a healthy lead among voters overall, the most recent Field Poll in late July showed 58 percent of Latinos favored Angelides and 22 percent preferred Schwarzenegger.

Many political analysts say Schwarzenegger will need at least 30 percent of the Latino vote if he is to win re-election, which may account for the governor's recent push to make himself available to Spanish-language media, and, some say, the reason why over the past year he has appointed Latinos to high-level posts in his administration and his campaign.

``The Latino vote is still a key battleground,'' said Republican political consultant Kevin Spillane. ``The governor's campaign has clearly made that a priority.''

But catering to Latino voters isn't easy for politicians. While Latino Democrats outnumber Latino Republicans, Latino voters tend to cross party lines to choose candidates and issues that better match their beliefs.

``Latinos, and everyone knows this, tend to be conservative on social issues and liberal on fiscal and environmental issues,'' said Manuel Pastor, an expert on Latino politics at the University of California-Santa Cruz.

Schwarzenegger has recently made overtures popular with Latinos, such as saying it was a mistake to support Proposition 187, the ballot initiative that would have denied education and other benefits to illegal immigrants. Because of that and other moves, Pastor said, the Latino vote ``is going to be up for grabs.''

After Angelides' 14-minute speech -- considered to be on the short end for the candidate -- he quickly left the Sheraton Downtown Los Angeles ballroom with California Highway Patrol escorts to catch his commercial flight back to Sacramento.

Angelides will appear today in San Jose, where he will be a featured speaker at the second annual Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers-West Leadership Conference at the San Jose Convention Center.


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Contact Edwin Garcia at egarcia@mercurynews.com or (916) 441-4651.

Angelides' opponent, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was invited but did not attend the convention. He was not alone. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson also were invited but passed.

They 'passed?' Don't you like journalist's words sometimes? But just the fact that they were invited tells us something. Not so much Arnold but it does for the others.

Angelides will not win thank goodness. Many of our Latino voters (legal residents) will vote for Arnold again. No problemo! Arnold isn't perfect but he's a lot better than that Angelides who would seal our fate for sure in this state as being part of Mexico.

``It's time to help hard-working middle-class families, like the millions of Latinos who make this state's economy strong,'' he told more than 600 people at the capacity-crowd dinner. ``We find families, millions of Latino families, working hard at one job, sometimes two, just to stay even.''

What? Now the "middle class Latinos" keep the world spinning round and round? What the heck have the rest of civilization done all these years?

Put white people instead of Latino in that very sentence and see what an uproar that would cause. All those MILLIONS and MILLIONS hardley constitutes a minority anymore.