McCain, Obama reaching out aggressively to Latinos
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

(06-25) 18:35 PDT -- There are dramatic signs that the fabled "sleeping giant" of the American electorate, the Latino vote, has awoken for the 2008 presidential race - putting Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama in heated competition for what could be a game-changing prize.

And the candidates' reaction to that awakening explains this week's flurry of activity: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will address the nation's largest association of Latino officials Thursday in Washington, the day before her much-ballyhooed joint appearance with Obama in New Hampshire. Both the candidates plan to cross paths before the same group, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, this weekend.

In California next month, their head-to-head competition is expected to continue: Both candidates have been invited to appear before the National Council of La Raza at its national convention in San Diego. McCain has even invited Obama to hold a "town hall" debate before the influential Latino advocacy group - Obama hasn't yet been accepted.

With just weeks until the major party nominating conventions, both McCain and Obama have their eyes on the support of Latinos, America's largest minority group with about 9 percent of the national electorate - that's up from 5.5 percent in the 2000 election - according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

Obama's campaign appears eager to seize the moment: It is marshalling Latino leaders such as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to stump for the candidate.

McCain's campaign, which has launched early Spanish-language ads and a Spanish-language Web site called "Estamos Unidos Con McCain," also has made aggressive efforts to reach Spanish-language media through such elected officials as Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.

Pollster Mark Baldassare, executive director of the Public Policy Institute of California, said the most recent PPIC study, which was conducted last month,of the California Latino vote presented a challenging picture for the GOP candidate: Obama beat McCain by more than 3-1, or 69-20 percent, among Latinos.

That's particularly good news for Obama, "because Hillary was running so strongly with Latinos, and there was a question on how much it would carry over," he said.

And with less than one-quarter of Latinos registered as Republican in California, Baldassare said that they are still divided "largely along party lines."

Obama supporter and Democratic Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said Latino voters want someone who can address the "kitchen table" issues once considered strong GOP turf. "They're saying "educate my kids, keep them safe" and prepare them for the workplace when they graduate from school, Delgadillo said today.

In his city - where upward of 70 percent of the public school students are Latino - Delgadillo cited an example of the kind of political action that resonates with today's Latino voters. An experimental school safety program his office instituted at Markham Middle School in Watts, a territory controlled by four different gangs, included such improvements as parent and child ID cards and school uniforms, along with better police cooperation. The result: dramatically cut violence and gang crime - and increased parental participation in the school.

"Sen. Obama understands these urban issues," said Deltaville, who is a member of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council. "Chicago has one of the largest Latino populations in the country ... and these are front and center strike points." Obama is from Chicago.

However, Republicans argue that McCain has also shown strengths with Latino voters as a Westerner who has enjoyed strong Hispanic support in his home state of Arizona.

"In California, McCain is the best-positioned Republican of anyone we've had as a nominee since Reagan" to win the Latino vote, said GOP strategist Rob Stutzman, former spokesman for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

"Because of what McCain has tried to do in seeking a sensible immigration reform, Latinos will be more open minded to him," he said. "He has not committed the sin that so many Republicans have, which is to demagogue on the issue, and it's one of the great advantages of having him as a nominee."

But at the Washington-based New Democrat Network, executive director Simon Rosenberg argues that that there's increasing evidence McCain will never be able to match George W. Bush's ability to win 40 percent of the Latino voter bloc. He insists McCain will be viewed as a flip-flopper who "threw Latinos over the side" and abandoned them when he sponsored - and then walked away from - his own immigration reform bill.

Hector Barajas, spokesman for the California Republican Party and son of Mexican immigrants, says Latinos appreciate McCain's work on that issue and have taken notice of McCain's commitment to their values and concerns.

"We have a candidate has a long record of talking about the issues important to Latinos, who has reached across the aisle in doing things in the best interest of America, as opposed to doing things in the best interest of his political career," said Barajas. In addition to immigration reform, he said, McCain has won Latino backing by talking about his pro-life record and "the importance of military service - all things important of to Latinos."

GOP strategist and blogger Patrick Dorinson adds, "If the Democrats are just going to count them because they 'lean' Democratic, they're making a mistake. Both parties are going to have to address the economic anxiety that is out there."

Pollster Baldassare agrees, saying that "the top priorities right now for California voters - and it applies to Latinos - is the economy, gas prices, health care reform, Iraq and immigration, in that order. And those are the issues that Latino voters will look to the candidates for in order to make their decision."
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