Thread: Richardson Withdrawal Disappoints Latinos (and LaRaza)

CNN) -- Bill Richardson's withdrawal from his commerce secretary nomination Sunday didn't just leave a major gap in the new administration, but it also sorely disappointed Latinos who view the New Mexico governor as their most prominent representative.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was a Democratic presidential contender in the primaries.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was a Democratic presidential contender in the primaries.

"We are hugely disappointed. It's a stunned community out there," said Janet MurguÃ*a, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

"He is a very well-recognized leader not just in the Latino community but in this country and he has a long record of public service," she said.

Richardson was set to serve as the most high-profile Latino in President-elect Barack Obama's administration, and the announcement of Richardson's nomination in December drew praise from several Hispanic organizations.

Yet many Latino bloggers and activists openly grumbled that the president-elect should have given Richardson an even more prominent post in the administration, namely secretary of state.

"Secretary of commerce equals 'Where we stick Latinos to say we're diverse,' " one prominent Latino blog declared in December.

But with Richardson stepping aside from consideration for commerce secretary amid an ethics investigation relating to a company that has done business with his state, only two Latinos are now set to serve in the new Cabinet: Labor secretary-designate Hilda Solis and Interior secretary-designate Ken Salazar, neither of which, some critics have argued, will hold a prominent Cabinet post.

That's the same number that President Bush and former President Bill Clinton had in their Cabinets at a maximum at any given time.

The prospect of having only two Latinos on Obama's Cabinet riles some members of the Hispanic community who say their support of Obama was crucial to his success on Election Day

"It's disappointing at least for now that this administration doesn't have three Latinos as members of its Cabinet," said Arturo Vargas, the executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

"That would have been one of President-elect Obama's immediate legacies, to have appointed three Latinos to full Cabinet positions," Arturo added.

Exit polls on Election Day show Obama, a Democrat, won the Latino vote by more than 2-1 over Republican Sen. John McCain. Latinos' support of Obama was significantly greater than their support of the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry, who that year won the Latino vote by only 9 percentage points over Bush.

Obama's support among Latinos especially made a difference in a string of tossup states -- including New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Florida -- and Latino leaders had hoped the support would translate to several high-profile posts in the new administration.

"President-elect Barack Obama owes Latinos much more than three Cabinet positions. That's just a beginning of the kind of inclusion, involvement and engagement that his entire presidency has to have with Latinos," Arturo said.

Community leaders are pressing the Obama transition team to consider a host of other prominent Latinos for the Department of Commerce post, including Miami, Florida, Mayor Manny Diaz and U.S. Rep. Nydia Vilasquez of New York.

"We do think another Latino should replace Mr. Richardson," MurguÃ*a of NCLR said. "It's not out of a sense of entitlement, it's really out of sense of historic precedent. President-elect Obama was ushered into office by a wide diverse coalition of different voters. There is a strong sense of pride among Latino voters that they played a special role."

The Obama transition team isn't commenting on who is under consideration to replace Richardson, though Berkeley professor and Clinton administration alum Laura Tyson as well as Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius are reportedly on top of the list, neither of whom is Hispanic. Sebelius has said she is not interested in the post.

"There are also minority replacements, but I think the Latino community particularly is going to watch this appointment," said Leslie Sanchez, a Republican strategist and CNN contributor.

Obama transition officials say the president-elect has already set a record for the number of Hispanics appointed to White House posts and discount criticisms the Latino community is getting slighted.

"Based on what I can cull from records, we have more Hispanics in senior positions in this White House than under either President Bush or President Clinton," Obama's incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, recently told Politico.

But even as prominent Hispanic leaders publicly call for the president-elect to replace Richardson with another Latino appointee, not all Latinos necessarily feel the same way.

"I think we are beyond that at this point. We need to have the very best people in these jobs. I hope that they pick someone equally brilliant and highly experienced. We are all in it together," said Fernando Espuelas, host and managing editor of Café Espuelas, a Los Angeles Spanish-language radio talk show.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/05/ ... index.html

"We do think another Latino should replace Mr. Richardson," MurguÃ*a of NCLR said. "It's not out of a sense of entitlement, it's really out of sense of historic precedent. President-elect Obama was ushered into office by a wide diverse coalition of different voters. There is a strong sense of pride among Latino voters that they played a special role."

A "special role"? How so? I guess Murguia really does feel a sense of entitlement.

Originally Posted by SicNTiredInSoCal

"We do think another Latino should replace Mr. Richardson," MurguÃ*a of NCLR said. "It's not out of a sense of entitlement, it's really out of sense of historic precedent. President-elect Obama was ushered into office by a wide diverse coalition of different voters. There is a strong sense of pride among Latino voters that they played a special role."

A "special role"? How so? I guess Murguia really does feel a sense of entitlement.

You are right, they didn't play a special role, it was black and "other" Americans who played a special role, the Latino Democratic vote increased the same as could be expected considering the economic situation.

All cabinet nominees are pro open borders reconquistas essential to the open borders, cheap labor, and reconquista agenda of Congress, Corporate America, Chamber of Commerce, and the Mexican government. Obama will have to nominate another reconquista to fulfill his corporate imposed dictate of destroying the middle class to turn this country into a socialist third world cesspool and the Commerce Secretary billet will help accomplish that. I am afraid our children will inherit a lawless, impoverished, drug infested and gang ruled third world cesspool because Congress, LaRaza and other entities don't care about our borders, sovereignty, the rule of law and struggling Americans but only about appropriating what little remains of what we have and giving it to those that don't.......

I can see the in-fighting coming soon in Obamas cabinet, not whats best for the country but for the race, Race based politics as usual.

January 7, 2009
On Politics

Richardson Withdrawal Hurts Obama’s Southwest Strategy
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

WASHINGTON — The withdrawal of Gov. Bill Richardson’s nomination as Commerce secretary was more than just a jolt to President-elect Barack Obama’s otherwise smooth transition. It was a setback for a less-remarked-on but politically significant aspect of the selection of Mr. Obama’s cabinet — the extent to which it reflects a marked attempt to consolidate Democratic gains in the Southwest, a crucial political target for Democrats as the party takes control of the White House.

Mr. Obama’s advisers said that where cabinet officials came from was not the main factor in making these selections. But they said it certainly was one, an extension of the effort by Mr. Obama in the campaign to take advantage of changing demographic patterns to move states like Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada into the Democratic column.

“We are conscious of the political and demographic changes in the political Southwest, and these appointments are a reflection of the growing importance of the Southwest to the Democratic Party,â€

...."importance of the Southwest"....code for "importance of Latinos and illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America"

Change? Hardly...race-based, ethno-supremacist politics from professional race baiters...what else is new?

Richardson Withdrawal Disappoints Latinos (and LaRaza)

G O O D !!!

"We do think another Latino should replace Mr. Richardson," MurguÃ*a of NCLR said. "It's not out of a sense of entitlement, it's really out of sense of historic precedent. President-elect Obama was ushered into office by a wide diverse coalition of different voters. There is a strong sense of pride among Latino voters that they played a special role."

R A C I S T statement!

What else would you expect from a bunch of grumbling "The Race People."

From "Lonewacko" Blog
Please see source to access links
http://24ahead.com/hispanic-caucus-want ... nce-census

Hispanic Caucus wants Latino at Commerce to influence the Census

Guillermo Garcia of the San Antonio Express News offers "Latinos push Obama on vacant post" (link). The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is going to work with other, unnamed groups to push for a Latino to be named Secretary of the Department of Congress. They settled on one candidate, who a source says was Xavier Becerra; however, he's since indicated he's not interested.

In any case, not only are they explicit about their support for a racial quota system, but they also reveal why: in order to influence the Census. Note that in 2007, the Census Bureau called for a halt to immigration raids during the 2010 census (link). Earlier this year, John Trasvina of MALDEF said he wanted the next president to appoint a DHS chief who'd halt raids during the census. Excerpt from the article below.
...San Antonio Congressman Charlie Gonzalez said the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is meeting in Washington this week, "will be coalescing with other groups on a specific person to recommend" as Richardson's replacement. He declined to name any candidate.

He said Hispanic groups would strongly push to have a qualified Hispanic named as Richardson's replacement because of the need to have minorities, especially Hispanics, properly accounted for in the Census.

The Census Bureau, which conducts a national count once every 10 years, is part of the Department of Commerce. Many federal entitlement program allocations to the states are based on Census data.

..."I am crushed that Richardson is out," said Linda Chavez Thompson of San Antonio, a member of the Democratic National Committee.

"I can't think of a single high-profile Latino at the level of Bill Richardson. He would have been ideally situated to positively impact the everyday life of Latinos, especially during these economic times we are living through," Chavez, who until her retirement last year was the third-highest-ranking officer in the national AFL-CIO labor organization.

"We are going from three Latinos to two on the Obama Cabinet," said Juan Sepulveda, a San Antonioan who served as the Obama campaign's Texas coordinator. "While we still have Sen. (Ken) Salazar and Rep. (Hilda) Solis at Interior and Labor, respectively, Richardson would have been the highest-ranking Hispanic in the cabinet."