The meeting in the Capitol's Strom Thurmond Room on March 11 was a Republican effort led by Sens. McCain of Arizona, John Thune of South Dakota, and Mel Martinez of Florida to reach out to Hispanics. But two people who attended the session say they were taken aback by McCain's anger.What began as a collegial airing of views abruptly changed when McCain spoke about immigration, according to these sources, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. Anonymity was also requested by a third source, who was not at the meeting but was told, independently of the other two, that McCain had displayed his notorious temper."He was angry," one source said. "He was over the top. In some cases, he rolled his eyes a lot. There were portions of the meeting where he was just staring at the ceiling, and he wasn't even listening to us. We came out of the meeting really upset."McCain's message was obvious, the source continued: After bucking his party on immigration, he had no sympathy for Hispanics who are dissatisfied with President Obama's pace on the issue. "He threw out [the words] 'You people -- you people made your choice. You made your choice during the election,' " the source said. "It was almost as if [he was saying] 'You're cut off!' We felt very uncomfortable when we walked away from the meeting because of that."
The meeting in the Capitol's Strom Thurmond Room on March 11 was a Republican effort led by Sens. McCain of Arizona, John Thune of South Dakota, and Mel Martinez of Florida to reach out to Hispanics. But two people who attended the session say they were taken aback by McCain's anger.
What began as a collegial airing of views abruptly changed when McCain spoke about immigration, according to these sources, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. Anonymity was also requested by a third source, who was not at the meeting but was told, independently of the other two, that McCain had displayed his notorious temper.
"He was angry," one source said. "He was over the top. In some cases, he rolled his eyes a lot. There were portions of the meeting where he was just staring at the ceiling, and he wasn't even listening to us. We came out of the meeting really upset."
McCain's message was obvious, the source continued: After bucking his party on immigration, he had no sympathy for Hispanics who are dissatisfied with President Obama's pace on the issue. "He threw out [the words] 'You people -- you people made your choice. You made your choice during the election,' " the source said. "It was almost as if [he was saying] 'You're cut off!' We felt very uncomfortable when we walked away from the meeting because of that."
Henry M
campaigntrail@huffingtonpost.com
Latinos For Obama Meetings
Ms. Terry Rivera, a longtime Santa Fe County Democratic Party official, started a local chapter of the Latinos for Obama in June. She invited several people to the first meeting and had Democratic Activist Miguel Lucero talk to us about the political and social history of the Latino movement.
Miguel told us that, New Mexico’s Spanish-speaking population, was intrigued by the concepts of freedom, democracy and the “United States of America.” Under General Galven (namesake of Galveston, Texas) an army was raised to assist in the American Revolution of 1776.
Historically, New Mexico’s Spanish-speaking population, was guaranteed that elections and laws would be printed in BOTH Spanish and English by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 that ended the “War with Mexico.” Spanish-speakers didn’t vote or voted through a ‘Patron system’ whereby a village elder would tell you who to vote for. The voters were mature males who owned land or animals. The Patron would be the largest landowner or a ‘Mayordomo’ who controlled the water rights or church properties.
As a Territory of the United States, New Mexico was desperate to become a state and local legislators knew that having people vote more and be registered in the party in power in Washington, D.C. would give the best possible support for statehood. All the Spanish-speaking voters registered Republican because Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and the idea of treating all men equally was an intriguing thought to the natives who had been conquered by the White army of the United States in 1846.
During the Civil War, the Territory (which included Arizona at the time) was divided in half and the southern half was Confederate and the northern half stayed in the Union. Most Spanish speaking people enlisted in the Union Army. The Confederates were mainly from Texas and the cotton field owners near Mesilla joined with them and Lt. Colonel John R. Baylor, CSA, made Mesilla the Capitol of the southern territory of New Mexico. The Confederate plan was to drive the Union Army out of New Mexico and then seize the gold fields near Denver to finance the War Between the States. The Confederates had won three major battles already and were ready to lay seize to Santa Fe. The Union Army withdrew and just outside of Santa Fe at Glorieta Pass they ambushed the Confederates and drove the Texans all the way back to Albuquerque and eventually Mesilla were they stayed the rest of the war. The Battle of Glorieta is dubbed the Gettysburg of the West. New Mexicans remember it as the second time Texas invaded New Mexico.
During this time, all the Spanish-speaking voters registered Republican because it was the party of the martyr Abraham Lincoln. The Republican Party also had a good platform for farmers and large landowners. It was very independent-oriented and the “rugged individualism” of President Teddy Roosevelt was a popular theme. The Spanish-speaking population stayed registered as Republicans until the Republican-caused Great Depression and the 1932 Election of FDR.
New Mexico’s Spanish speaking population is composed of the original descendants of the Spanish Conquistadors, and much later Mexican immigrants. The identity of these peoples is hard to categorize with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ label. Northern New Mexicans have always just said they were Spanish-Americans and have vehemently refused the ‘Mexican-American’ label that the U.S. Census Bureau imposed. The term “Hispanics” fit the older generation while the young activists adopted the term “La Raza” (The Race) in the 1960-70’s; even “Brown Power” and later “Chicano.” The term “Latino” which arose in the political scene in the 1990’s bundled Hispanics from Latin America, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico and South America; and could cover the following racial categories: White/Caucasian or Black/African, Asian, Native American, or Pacific Islander.
But this term “Latino” had its historical roots with Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico 1863-1867. He was placed on his throne by Napoleon III of France, the Austrian Hapsburgs and the Mexican Conservatives. The Mexican Liberals under Benito Juarez opposed him and revolution broke out. In an effort to bring all fractions together, Maximilian brought his allies from Brazil and what Napoleon III called “Latin America” and stated that all were “Latinos” including Mexicans since the Romance languages of Spanish, French and Portuguese linked them. It was a term that didn’t stick well with the locals and eventually the revolution deposed Maximilian and he was executed by President Juarez and the new democracy.
Latinos and Blacks have historically competed for jobs, housing and education; with the majority Whites pitting them against each other in this economic struggle to achieve political success.
Latinos complained about Mayor Tom Bradley’s election bid in Los Angeles in 1973, Mayor David Dinkens election bid in New York in 1989 and Mayor Willie Brown’s election bid in San Francisco in 1996; that for their voting support they were promised more economic support that never materialized.
Historically in New Mexico, we have not had a lot of Black people, but they have had generally good relations with the Latino population. In 1536, Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was shipwrecked on the coast of Texas with three others. One was Esteban (Estevan), a Moorish Servant. The four wandered through the Southwest in search of the Seven Cities of Cibola (the fabled cities of gold).
Esteban, came back with Coronado in 1540 to lead him to New Mexico and stayed in Zuni after Coronado left, welcomed as a Messiah. He eventually wore out his welcome and wreaked havoc amongst the tribal members and was put to death by them. The next Blacks in history were escaped and freed slaves that came in 1850’s out on the Santa Fe Trail from Missouri and through Texas. Then Blacks came as cowboys on the Goodnight-Loving Trail in 1866 and the Buffalo Soldiers stationed at Fort Selden from 1866 to the 1880’s. Blacks worked on the railroad in the 1880’s and 1890’s then in the Mesilla Valley cotton fields after the 1900’s. Blacks started working in the oil fields at Hobbs and at the military bases in the 1940’s at Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Clovis.
Hispano New Mexicans are very patriotic and have fought in many wars with distinction including the Indian Wars. This dates back to our quest for statehood. The Civil War required us to defend the Union to preserve our chance for statehood. Many joined the Roughriders and followed Teddy Roosevelt up San Juan Hill in 1898 hoping to win not just a war but also statehood; which was eventually won in 1912.
A few Hispanics went into World War One, but the National Guard had already been called into service to fight Pancho Villa after he attacked on American soil at Columbus, New Mexico in 1916. In World War Two, Latinos had the most casualties per capita. The New Mexico National Guard was rushed into the Philippines in 1942 to fight the Japanese and thousands died during the Bataan Death March. Korea and Vietnam also saw heavy Latino support. So that a John McCain as a war hero plays to the Latino community. It is important to educate people about his anti-veteran voting over the last 26 years.
John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, was immensely popular in New Mexico in 1960. A powerful speaker who came on a train tour---he became the hope for the poverty stricken Hispanics. His assassination devastated both the Hispanic and Blacks communities that were unified behind him. In 1964, LBJ, a Texan, was on the ballot and it didn’t thrill New Mexicans. But in 1968, Bobby Kennedy electrified crowds with his speaking ability and his ties and compassion with Cesar Chaves and farm workers gave hope to New Mexican Hispanics. To some, including myself, Obama, reminds our community organizers of the Kennedy’s message.
In the 1980’s Albuquerque became a relocation center for the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. This included the Mariel Boatlift, the release of Cuban Prisoners by Castro, the relocation of San Salvadorian rebels, Vietnamese refugees (including Black Ameriasians children) and Haitian refugees. These relocations added different types of Spanish speakers and Blacks to the melting pot in New Mexico. Mexican and Guatemalan immigration in the 80’s, 90’s and today continue our diversity expansion.
In concluding, Mr. Lucero stated that although Northern New Mexico votes Democratic at a 60-80% rate it needs to be motivated by the Obama campaign to turn out. Instead of picking a unifying title for the organization that is better than Latinos for Obama, it is more important to be out in the local communities and be visible and use Spanish-language radio to educate people about Obama.
But why is this “unification” for Obama, the candidate, so foreign to us?
Many of the “Latinos for Obama” were in Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition. The symbol for the campaign was a rainbow of green (for environmentalists), red (for Native Americans), yellow (for Asians), white (for Whites), black (for Blacks), and brown for Hispanics. So each Democratic Party constituency had a stripe in the coalition. The fact that Jesse was Black was immaterial to the Coalition members---he was just the leader, a temporary CEO of this cause for the greater good. We had that brown stripe and that was all that mattered. When we called in phone banking and people answered “But he is a Black Man” --- and we said “So?”.
Taking this lesson from the Rainbow Coalition we have our own stripe again: it is in the ‘Hope’ and ‘Change We Can Believe In’ themes of the Obama campaign. These are messages and symbols that resonate in the Latino community that has been bypassed for so long.
William Henry Mee
Santa Fe, N.M.
The country is about to elect it's first African American president. It's a historical moment
The image of an African American as the leader of the US will bring deep social changes to our country. His presidency will be a subtle reminder to all of us that color has no correlation with intellect. He will be a role model for the African American youth, some who will most likely follow in his footsteps. His presidency will redefine and expand the meaning of being a US American, to include more deeply the African American culture
Nevertheless, amidst this historical time, we are leaving out a large constituency. Hispanics are part of this country’s mix and they are shaping the direction of the US. However, mainstream media does not show this fact, just like they failed to showcase the political voice of African Americans for many decades. There is a lag from when the media chooses to showcase an image of our country to what is really happening. African Americans have been part of our countries’ political make up for many decades, but I feel it’s until recently that the media began to project this fact. Hispanics are currently part of this country’s political make-up but this fact is not being presented to the public.
Must 30 or 50 years pass for the media to recognize the political voice of Latinos and just then finally showcase this fact to the world?
It's a momentous time in the US. The possibility that Barack Obama will be the first African American president in US history seems more and more likely as time passes. His campaign exudes a sense of inevitable victory...like it's destined to win. I feel the media has picked up on this. It seems there are more African American commentators are on TV and the the media is giving African Americans more equitable time on TV to voice their opinions. It’s fascinating to watch this happen, however this should have occurred many years ago.
The US is no longer the black and white world, literally and figuratively, that existed 100 years ago. Today, Latinos are a big part of this mix. Latinos will, in the near future, become the majority of the minorities. English no longer holds a monopoly on the means of communication; Spanish has become a fierce competitor in the US. The growing use of bi-lingual education is testament to this fact. Favorite fastfoods such as pizza, hotdogs and burgers are now no longer the number one choice. It's now Mexican and other Hispanic foods that are seducing the palates of many around the US. We are now becoming "green" people a long past tradition of our Latin American "Indian" ancestors. I hope an Obama presidency will lead the country to recognize this reality and thus show the world that the US is more than just a black and white world.
Earlier this afternoon, Minnesota Latinos for Obama launched a major effort to raise money for a national Latino GOTV operation designed to engage and turnout millions of new Latino voters.
We'll have pictures and a full write up soon, but for now, check out the press release about the event and fundraising effort:
ST. PAUL – Today, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson joined Minnesota state Sen. Patricia Torres Ray and hundreds of members of Minnesota's Latino community for a reception at the Landmark Center in St. Paul to kick off a major push to raise more than $100,000 as Minnesota's contribution to a national Latino voter turnout program that will engage millions of new Latino voters for Barack Obama's Campaign for Change. This unprecedented financial haul is a symbol of the growing Latino organizing strength in Minnesota and the strong base of support Senator Obama has mobilized among Minnesota Latinos. Governor Richardson spoke to hundreds of supporters about Senator Obama's plans to strengthen families, restore our economy for working Minnesotans and build strong communities. "Barack Obama is the only candidate who can bring this country together to get the economy working again for middle class families," Governor Bill Richardson said. "John McCain just does not get what families are dealing with in this tough economy. We just cannot continue with four more years of the failed policies of the last eight years. Senator Obama will invest in our families, get a hold of this economic crisis and get this country back on track by re-focusing on middle-class families." Torres Ray, the first Latina state senator in Minnesota history, has long been a strong and active Obama supporter. "Latinos are a critical and growing group of voters who will help determine the course of this election in key states," Torres Ray said. "Here in Minnesota, the Latino community has never been as strongly organized and activated as it is now. This outpouring of support for Senator Obama reflects the fact that he has stood with us time and again on issue after issue. John McCain has let Latinos down, letting the radical wing of his party shape his views and undermine his principles. We need Barack Obama and Joe Biden in office to return a strong voice for the issues we care about."
ST. PAUL – Today, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson joined Minnesota state Sen. Patricia Torres Ray and hundreds of members of Minnesota's Latino community for a reception at the Landmark Center in St. Paul to kick off a major push to raise more than $100,000 as Minnesota's contribution to a national Latino voter turnout program that will engage millions of new Latino voters for Barack Obama's Campaign for Change. This unprecedented financial haul is a symbol of the growing Latino organizing strength in Minnesota and the strong base of support Senator Obama has mobilized among Minnesota Latinos.
Governor Richardson spoke to hundreds of supporters about Senator Obama's plans to strengthen families, restore our economy for working Minnesotans and build strong communities.
"Barack Obama is the only candidate who can bring this country together to get the economy working again for middle class families," Governor Bill Richardson said. "John McCain just does not get what families are dealing with in this tough economy. We just cannot continue with four more years of the failed policies of the last eight years. Senator Obama will invest in our families, get a hold of this economic crisis and get this country back on track by re-focusing on middle-class families."
Torres Ray, the first Latina state senator in Minnesota history, has long been a strong and active Obama supporter.
"Latinos are a critical and growing group of voters who will help determine the course of this election in key states," Torres Ray said. "Here in Minnesota, the Latino community has never been as strongly organized and activated as it is now. This outpouring of support for Senator Obama reflects the fact that he has stood with us time and again on issue after issue. John McCain has let Latinos down, letting the radical wing of his party shape his views and undermine his principles. We need Barack Obama and Joe Biden in office to return a strong voice for the issues we care about."
MIAMI (AFP) - A great majority of Hispanic voters in US swing states favor Democratic Barack Obama over Republican John McCain in the race for the White House, a Newslink poll said Friday.
I don't get the immigration debate. More specifically: I don't understand why it is so complicated to figure out!!
The solution is simple: if you're here illegally, you should be prosecuted and deported. Simple as that. I follow the laws, and I don't have a get-out-of-jail-free card, and I'm a citizen. There are hundreds of thousands of highly skilled individuals who have abided by the process and waited in line to enter this country and lawfully become citizens. Fifty of those people are members of my family. My father and mother waited in line back in the 60's and 70's. The point is that they followed the law! Proximity to our borders and gambling ones life to trek across the sierra nevada should not be an on-ramp to legal work status and certainly not to citizenship. If that becomes the norm, any argument for helping the poor, which is fundamental democratic thinking, immediately becomes "helping the poor and the people that broke the law to be poor but within our borders", which is an idea I (and I expect many independents) will not subscribe to. I'm not a charity. I don't mind helping people out from time to time, but I'm not going to provide free support to anybody that had the guts to cross the border.
I graduated from a highly reputable university. I have *many* friends that are brilliant, law-biding individuals. They could have easy overstayed their visa's and scrounged for some type of job. Instead, they followed the law, left the country, and waited for a corporation to sponsor their H1B visa. By giving amnesty, you are telling foreigners, particularly foreign students, that instead of adhering to the laws and policies of the US, they instead should ignore them and expect amnesty. "Intelligent immigration" is about providing incentives to those with skills and the capabilities of significantly contributing to society (which in part implies assimilation too), should be the objective. Not "charitable immigration".
Amnesty in any form is unacceptable. We need to encourage individuals to follow the law, not give them a way out because we as a government were too stupid to understand how to enforce the laws. More over, we should encourage those who have studied at our universities, graduated with good gpa's, and have quite a bit of promise to stay, work, and contribute to society. The whole mantra of "give us your weak, your poor, ..." made sense pre-depression, but now that we have social services, where our tax money is used in-part to support those that can't support themselves, that ideology no longer is ideal. I refuse to have any of my tax dollars spent caring for those that broke the law and are getting away with. If that's the case, why should I adhere to any law?? I'll walk into best buy and walk off with a playstation and a new plasma tv. Anybody that stops me is two-faced.
To me, amnesty => democrats. But at the same time, anti-immigration => republican. Both are dumb positions. We as a country need to enforce our laws and encourage intelligent immigration policies, where we encourage highly educated people and their families to immigrate to the US and establish their roots. By the way, we need to "import" highly educated people (particularly in math and science) because well, quite frankly, those educated in the US high school system (as well as most of people that graduated from the weaker 50-500 ranked universities) simply don't cut it in the marketplace, but this is for another blog post.
Finally, any candidate that panders to illegal immigrants and their supporters automatically loses my vote. Additionally, anybody that argues the people here illegally are fleeing repression, should go visit India, China, and other countries because my relatives are represessed too, but they are abiding by the law and are waiting (for $50k I could have them snuck over the border tomorrow, but it is *ILLEGAL*). If the candidates for both major parties pander, I simply wont vote at all, and I will encourage as many people as possible to not vote too. It's a matter of pride and being right. I expect this to be a sentiment held by *many* of the first and second generation immigrants in this country, because they are the ones whose family are following the legal process and waiting for US visa's in their home country. Breaking the law is breaking the law. Nothing anybody says can change that fact. Any law breakers should be prosecuted. People that follow the law should be afforded priveledges. Period.
Audio in English @
http://lineasemanal.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/howard_dean091208email.mp3
------Gobernador: La popularidad del senador Obama está incrementando entre los latinos. ¿Qué razones nos puede dar que expliquen este fenómeno?El senador Obama es de la opinión de que todos los ciudadanos americanos deberían tener seguro médico. El senador McCain se opone a esto.El senador Obama tiene un programa para mejorar las escuelas públicas. El senador McCain no considera que el Gobierno Federal debería participar en esto y así es que en asuntos de familia y educación, el senador Obama tiene más firmes convicciones que el senador McCain.Además, el senador McCain le dio la espalda a los latinos al ni siquiera votar por su propia propuesta migratoria. El senador Obama comprende que en América todos deben ser incluidos, y no solamente en tiempo de elecciones. Y que no se puede usar a una parte de la población como chivos expiatorios.¿Qué tipo de impacto tendría una administración Obama en la relaciones exteriores de los EEUU, específicamente en los países hispanohablantes?Ya hemos visto que la personalidad del senador Obama es popular en otros países. Principalmente porque él cree que todos deberíamos trabajar juntos en vez de dictarles a los otros lo que hay que hacer. Esto es algo muy sensible para la gente en Latinoamérica.Yo me he reunido con lideres latinoamericanos, como el presidente de México, y les he hecho saber que con el gobierno del senador Obama, las relaciones con Latinoamérica serían muy diferentes a las que se tendrían o se tuvieron con George Bush o John McCain.La Fe es una parte importante de la cultura latina. Los republicanos se presentan como el partido de las gentes de Fe. ¿Qué filosofía se acerca más a la Fe, la Republicana o la Demócrata?Los demócratas. Creo que el senador Obama ha expresado claramente que es una persona de Fe. Pero como dice la Biblia, La Fe sin hechos no significa nada. Los republicanos hablan de la Fe, los demócratas la ponen en práctica. Y lo más importante acerca de la Fe es cómo la ponemos de manifiesto en nuestras vidas personales.El senador Obama es una persona honesta y honrada. La campaña de McCain está dirigida por "Lobbyists" (Agentes de los grupos de presión). Y se puede hablar mucho acerca de la Fe, pero si no se practica a diario entonces tenemos un problema.La Igualdad Salarial es otro asunto. El senador Obama tiene la convicción de que las mujeres deberían ser remuneradas igual que los hombres. John McCain votó en contra de esto. McCain cree que las mujeres no deberían ganar tanto como los hombres y que el gobierno no tiene parte en esto. El senador Obama ha puesto su Fe en práctica. Y McCain habla de su Fe pero no incluye la igualdad de derechos para las mujeres.Sobresale entre los grupos de presión el de "English Only" . Este es un tema muy importante para muchos latinos. ¿Cuál es la postura del Partido Demócrata sobre este asunto?Nosotros creemos que es bueno aprender diversos idiomas, pensamos que los latinos que vienen a los EEUU aprenden inglés sin que se les diga que lo tienen que hacer; todos los inmigrantes lo aprenden. Pensamos que sería muy beneficioso para los americanos hablar otros idiomas también.Nosotros sabemos qué es verdaderamente este asunto del "English Only". Sabemos en realidad que está dirigido contra los inmigrantes latinos. Nunca tuvimos una ley como esta para los inmigrantes irlandeses, italianos o judíos y no creo que la necesitemos para los latinos.Se ha reportado que el senador Obama puede que esté listo para dejar que las "Organizaciones 527" como Moveon.org aumenten su agresividad contra la campaña de McCain. ¿Cree que es esta una buena idea? Y si es así, ¿Se debería haber hecho antes?No se nada de eso, no he escuchado esos reportes. Esto es lo que queremos hacer:La campaña de McCain quiere hablar acerca de todo excepto de McCain. Quieren hablar de Sandra Palin, de lápices de labios, de todo, menos del propio McCain. Esto pasa por que McCain es un candidato del pasado. Nosotros vamos ha hablar sobre temas importantes. Como usted sabe el lema del movimiento del senador es "Si Se Puede" o "Yes We Can".¿Y cómo se siente usted cuando ve que los republicanos están adoptando sus lemas y sus formas?¿Pero quién les va a creer?Gordon Smith y John McCain han estado en Washington casi el mismo tiempo, si se pone a sumar, del que yo llevo viviendo. Y la realidad es que nunca se van a obtener cambios con personas a las que que sólo les interesa hablar de cambios en las elecciones.Sólo se obtienen verdaderos cambios con las personas que lo viven. Barak Obama fue un organizador comunitario, en la comunidad latina hay un gran número de organizadores; los demócratas se pasaron tres días burlándose de los organizadores comunitarios en Minnesota.Sabemos bien del lado de quién está Barack Obama. Se sabe también de que lado está John McCain, y este no es el lado de los latinos.Una última pregunta, y esta es una pregunta general: Si el senador Obama es elegido, ¿Cuáles son los cambios más importantes que podemos esperar de su presidencia, algo que la gente podrá ver?Lo más importante es que habrá más trabajos disponibles, que todos los americanos tendrán cobertura médica y que pondremos fin a la guerra de Irak de forma honorable.Traducción: Abelardo Magaña, Rodrigo Alvarez y Matías Trejo De DiosAudio in English @
Obama plans Española visit Thursday; Richardson launches new group while courting Hispanics in battleground states; BATTLEGROUND and FENCESTRADDLER STATES' ELECTORAL VOTES ARE NOT DOOMED TO BE FOR MCCAIN!
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stephenfox/gG5qzphttp://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stephenfox/gG5XtP
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
BREAKING NEWS; "Being the 'detective' that I am, I got the message below from the McCain camp today. I can understand why he wants people to vote for him now, by absentee ballot. He doesn't want people to be able to change their minds as they hear the upcoming debates."
JaneAnne<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
BRILLIANT!SO HERE IS THIS AGAIN:
By Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News -
First thoughts: The Electoral Map 50 days out : from MSNBC:
Turn on the Steam in (leaning Obama) IA, MN, NM OR, PA, WA (61 votes) Toss up: CO, MI, NV, NH, OH, VA, WI (78 votes)
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stephenfox/gG5ZBz
A lot of letters to the editor from you, and emailed all over your state might turn the tide, if they were well reasoned and hard hitting, to the point, about why Obama would be best for your state, in the long run! If you speak with the Editorial Page Editor, ask for an op/ed slot, 600-800 words, to really make your point, and don't forget that these are the very editors who are likely to be writing their endorsements in a few short weeks for President, so don't bombard them with blast emails: they won't get printed, and you will just irk the person.
Editorial page editors are listed in EDITOR AND PUBLISHER in your library, and indirectly through
usnpl.com : unitedstatesnewspaperlist
And no doubt, as Dr. Howard Dean III pointed out in Santa Fe about a month ago, nothing works better than going door to door, and personally talking at length with your neighbors, colleagues, and family, to answer any questions they might have regarding Obama's strengths and McCain's failures.
You may find the earlier articles in my blog (there are 109 of them) to be helpful as all have been filed with strategy and tactical considerations in mind, above all.
Truly,
Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun NewsFounder, New Millennium Fine Artstephen@santafefineart.com
MSNBC:
The Palin bounce has erased Obama's lead in the national polls, and it has now cut into his electoral-vote advantage, according to NBC’s latest map. Obama holds a 233-227 edge here, down from his 228-200 advantage from last week.
The biggest changes: We moved Florida -- with its 27 electoral votes -- from Toss-up to Lean McCain, and New Mexico from Toss-up to Lean Obama. We also shifted Oregon and Washington from Likely Obama to Lean Obama, as well as Alaska, Georgia, North Dakota and South Dakota from Lean McCain to Likely McCain.
The good news for McCain is that the map looks better for him than at any point so far in this race, and many of those red states that looked like opportunities for Obama (AK, GA, IN) look to be longer shots for him. The bad news for McCain is that given the wave his campaign has been riding from the Palin bounce, is this as good as it gets?
If he isn’t leading in some states now, he might not ever lead in them. Bottom line: You'll know the map is starting to move in one direction or the other if either Pennsylvania or Florida moves back into Toss-up before Election Day.
VIDEO: NBC Political Director Chuck Todd discusses the Sarah Palin affect on the NBC electoral vote map.
Likely Obama: CA, CT, DE, DC, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, NJ, NY, RI, VT (172 electoral votes)
Lean Obama: IA, MN, NM OR, PA, WA (61 votes)
Toss-up: CO, MI, NV, NH, OH, VA, WI (78 votes)
Lean McCain: FL, IN, MO, MT, NC (67 votes)
Likely McCain: AL, AK, AZ, AR, GA, ID, KS, KY, LA, MS, NE, ND, OK, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WV, WY (160 votes)
__________________________________________________________________________
Obama plans Española visit; Richardson launches new group while courting Hispanics in battleground states
Photo: Santa Fe County Commissioner Virginia Vigil screams ‘Obamanos!’ on Monday during the opening of a new Barack Obama campaign office on Santa Fe’s south side. Gov. Bill Richardson used the opening as an opportunity to launch a group called Hispanics for Obama and announce an upcoming visit by the Democratic presidential candidate to Española.More on this siteAdvertisement
Steve Terrell | The New Mexican
9/15/2008 - 9/16/08
Gov. Bill Richardson on Monday launched a group called Hispanics for Obama , and announced that the Democratic presidential candidate himself will appear Thursday in Española.
Barack Obama is relying on Richardson to help court Hispanics in battleground states including New Mexico, which narrowly went for Republican George W. Bush four years ago and where John McCain also has visited several times this year.
In informal remarks to dozens of local Democrats at the opening of a new south-side Santa Fe campaign office, Richardson began with a hearty "Buenos tardes." He laughed and made joking asides to enthusiastic audience members as he happily played the role of Obama cheerleader.
"As the Hispanic vote goes nationally, so goes the presidency," Richardson said. He got loud cheers by predicting big margins for the Illinois senator among Hispanic voters in New Mexico as well as in Colorado and Nevada.
"And we want that number to be close to 65 or 70 percent," he said of New Mexico's Hispanic vote for Obama.
It was a chance for locals to see Richardson do what he's been doing increasingly on the national level.
During the weekend, he attended several Obama events in Las Vegas, Nev. He met Saturday with Hispanic leaders there, spoke to Obama volunteers at a North Las Vegas campaign office, had a town hall at the College of Southern Nevada, attended a soccer tournament sponsored by Spanish-language television network Telemundo and spoke at a dinner for Las Vegas Democrats.
(The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that boxing fan Richardson also attended a title fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Joel Casamayor.)
Also on Saturday, Richardson, in his role as Obama surrogate, taped an interview on MSNBC. On Sunday, he appeared on Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer, opposite Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
During last month's Democratic National Convention in Denver, Richardson told The New Mexican that the Obama campaign mainly wanted him to campaign in New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado, three swing states with significant Hispanic populations.
But Obama apparently isn't limiting Richardson to those Western states. The New York Times last week listed Richardson among surrogates including Sen. Hillary Clinton and Caroline Kennedy who were scheduled to appear at high-dollar fundraisers this month in New York.
A spokeswoman for the Governor's Office said Monday that travel expenses for such out-of-state trips are paid by the Obama campaign. He normally travels with a state police officer, a state Public Safety Department spokesman said. Although the officer's salary is paid by the state, the spokesman said, travel expenses are covered by the campaign.
Some at Monday's event in Santa Fe seemed to want to use Richardson to pass advice to Obama.
"Governor, tell him to toughen up those ads," one man said as Richardson left the building.
Hispanics for Obama is a statewide group, Richardson said after the event. It will hold policy forums involving Hispanic leaders around New Mexico.
Although Hispanic voters traditionally have favored Democrats, the percentages targeted by Richardson are hardly guaranteed. In 2004, President Bush attracted about 40 percent of the Hispanic vote according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks.
Richardson said the campaign's goal is to register 12,000 new Hispanic voters as part of a statewide effort to boost total voter registration by 30,000 during the next 30 days.
Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.
IF YOU GO
What: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama visits Española
When: Rally starts at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Española Plaza
Tickets: Free, available starting today at two Obama campaign offices in Santa Fe, 720 St. Michael's Drive 2-N and 3494 Zafarano Drive Suite B, as well as at campaign offices in Las Vegas, Taos, Española, Los Alamos and Raton.
I don't understand what's happening with the Latinos in this nation. I'm Latina, born in the Dominican Republic and stepped on US soil when I was seven years old. I became a citizen as soon as I turned 18 and have been an active voter ever since. But I've never been as vested in an election as I am with this one. What has really riled me up is the nomination of Sarah Palin, and the comments I hear from women who say "wow, he picked a woman...I’m voting for McCain." How ignorant! These women are often single moms, in their 20's and 30's, who are smitten by sound bites and shallow images. Instead of digging deeper to understand who Sarah Palin really is, or what McCain has stood for over the past eight years, they're voting because there is a vagina in the ticket!
The Obama team must do a better job of reaching the Latino community, especially the Spanish dominant who rely on Univision, Telemundo, and local radio stations to get their information. I've been watching the Spanish media outlets and they're failing their community. The coverage is very skewed towards McCain's favor. And it seems like no one form the Obama camp is noticing, because it continues without objections. Obama needs to speak to Latinos directly. In my opinion, he should be booked on the two most popular radio stations in the nation, La Mega in NYC and Piolin in LA. Let him talk to the people, answer the questions, and correct all the misconceptions out there about him. (A good friend of mine told me she wouldn't be voting for him because she's a small business owner and he plans to raise her taxes. This is someone who has two kids who are now of voting age and doesn't understand the real issues, yet makes blanket statements that will not only influence her young adult children, but everyone else around her.)
The older generation Latino is a true challenge. They're completely uninformed and because of the biases in our culture, are ignorant enough to say they won't be voting for a "black" guy. I've heard this personally from friends who are aghast and horrified to hear their elder family members make these types of comments. The 50+ Latino will bring prejudices from their own country/culture and will most likely vote for McCain because he is not Black. Yes, there is a tremendous amount of prejudice in the Latino culture. Even though it's the most diverse ethnicity on the planet, it's riddled with biases and inequality for darker Latinos. On the upside, it's a community that understands struggles, respects the opinions of their children -- specially those educated and mainstreamed, and can be convinced to vote for Obama "if" they are given the facts. If they are told the truth. If they hear from Obama directly what he plans to do for the issues that matter to Latinos (education, immigration, taxes). If the Spanish media starts behaving more responsibly and provides both sides of the story.
Latinos Matter...
Republicans and racists came out in force to drag Obama down after his speech.
There is fear in their eyes because America might become inclusive and they fear Asians, Hispanics, and all minorities. For some, Obama will never be right based on his racial background.
I ask Americans who do not have these race-based fears to vote for Barack Obama.
Contributed by Jared Allen, THE HILL
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) must commit to helping illegal immigrants achieve citizenship or else risk losing the vital Latino vote in the general election, Hispanic Democratic lawmakers are warning.
If he does not promise so-called comprehensive immigration reform, the lawmakers say, the only other way to win over. Hispanic supporters of his erstwhile rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), may be to pick her as his running mate.
Obama's National Latino Vote Director, Cuauhtemoc "Temo" Figueroa, will have his first meeting in Washington Thursday with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC).
They carefully avoided calling explicitly for Clinton's selection as the party's vice presidential nominee, but some indicated that her bond with Latino voters will get them to the polls in November, just as it drew them into the primaries.
"Hillary holds the entire Latino community in the palm of her hand," said. Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), whose district went heavily for Clinton.
But Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), Obama's Republican opponent, is also liked by Latinos. He co-sponsored with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) the immigration bill that the CHC is demanding, which would put the country's 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. And he did not buckle under pressure to abandon that position during the GOP primary.
Cecilia Munoz, the senior vice president of research, advocacy and legislation with the National Council of La Raza, said whether McCain can win over large enough numbers of Latino voters is "still an open question."
"But Latinos are brand-loyal, and after the Clinton brand, the McCain brand is the second-strongest among Latinos because of his military service and his immigration record," Munoz said.
CHC Chairman Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) said that if Obama chooses someone other than Clinton, it will not be a dealbreaker for Latinos.
"But I hope he does make the right decision and picks someone who draws together our communities," Baca said. "Is that Hillary? I think she's certainly one of those candidates."
While Obama won the Latino vote in his home state of Illinois and in Colorado, and stayed competitive in New Mexico and Arizona, he was walloped among Latinos - 64 percent to 24 - throughout the 24 contests making up Super Tuesday.
In California, Clinton won over Latinos 67 percent to 29.
Latino voters comprised 30 percent of California Democratic primary voters, an increase of 17 percent from 2004. In Texas, the number of Latinos voting in the Democratic primary rose 8 percent, to 32 percent of the electorate, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
In harnessing such enthusiasm, Baca also said that the CHC will be looking - but not necessarily asking - for Obama to make as strong of a pledge as Clinton did to putting comprehensive immigration reform on his "first 100 days" agenda.
"He says he wants to, but he needs to show that he's serious about taking it up."
Obama's campaign coordinator for Spanish-language media, Vince Casillas, said that while Obama has promised to take up immigration reform in his first year in office, he has not yet laid out his detailed plan for comprehensive reform.
"As soon as he's ready and has a plan in place, he'll announce it," Casillas said.
In the Florida Republican primary, where Latinos made up 12 percent of the total vote and where McCain edged out Romney by only 4 percentage points, the Arizona senator won 54 percent of the Latino vote compared to Romney's 14 percent.
And many Republicans remember that it was in 2004 when 40 percent of Latino voters abandoned the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), to vote for President Bush, Munoz said.
Munoz called 2004 the Democrats' "low-water mark" in pulling in Latino support. The "high-water mark," she said, came in 1996, the last time a Clinton was on the ticket.
And even longtime Obama backers in the CHC - including Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) -said that Obama has a lot of work to do in drumming up support among Latinos who are still fiercely loyal to Clinton.
"I have encouraged the [Obama] campaign for a year now that retail politics is very important to us, but they don't yet seem to have gotten the message," Gutierrez said. "We really need to see more of that from him."
Becerra said that once he gets out there, Obama will be a "natural at connecting with the Latino community," but he acknowledged that more outreach is needed.
"And first and foremost, the discussion will need to be about how to reach out to the Clinton supporters and then [get] them incorporated into his campaign."
Baca said that if Obama fails to do that, and fails to give his "strongest types of surrogates" in the Latino community the
ammunition they need to help seal support for his candidacy, the record Latino turnout that was seen in the primaries could disappear.
"We have a tendency to not go to the polls to vote," Baca said. "[The CHC] can help get them out to vote, and it'll make a big difference. But in the end it's up to him."
I've had an interesting day of volunteering for the campaign. I started the day doing a voter registration drive in the heavily Hispanic Culmore neighborhood of Fairfax County, Virginia. I expected to encounter a good number of non-citizens but I was shocked to find that virtually every one of the 50+ people I spoke with was ineligible to vote. I guess I'm naive, but I thought that there would be more of a mixture of citizens and indocumentados- but I was wrong.
My experience in Culmore brought all my usual internal conflicts to the surface in regards to illegal immigrants. I recognize that we need people who are willing to perform the many jobs and services that illegal immigrants tend to provide, but at the same time I am furious at our government's inability or unwillingness to control our borders and implement a process by which these people can be integrated into our society.
What I saw today was nothing short of a suburban ghetto, acre after acre of crumbling, littered apartments whose inhabitants are primarily interested in flying as far below the radar as possible. I very much want to see these neighbors of mine enfranchised in our society, and I very much want our Congress to create a realistic, sustainable path to citizenship so that this shadow society no longer exists. In the meantime, we need to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants to reduce the supply of magnet jobs and increase economic aid to the feeder countries in Latin America.
Democrats in particular are missing a huge opportunity here. The overwhelming percentage of the people I spoke with wholeheartedly support Obama, even though they are unable to vote for him. There are potentially millions of would-be Democratic voters out there for the taking if only Congress would belly up to the bar and take action.
It was a frustrating, but instructive morning of volunteering, and I'm looking forward to participating in more events soon.
I just would like to start off by saying that my thoughts are to be meant well and not in any way to offend anyone. If I offend anyone I would like to apologize in advance. I am a Puerto Rican, born in New York therefore making me a New York Rican and PROUD.
It is in my opinion that the Obama campaign needs to advertise more in the spanish speaking communities. I feel and again this is only my opinion, that the reason the majority of hispanics whom voted for Clinton in the primaries voted for her was out of familiarity of the name itself. I do not believe the reason he did not get their votes had anything to do with color but rather who they were familiar with already. This is to be said especially for the older hispanics. For a lot of hispanics Bill was a great President and was usually compared to Kennedy. I feel a lot but "not all" hispanics especially older hispanics are naive when it comes to politics.They will vote for what they know or whom their friends/family vote for or not at all. I believe the Obama camp should continue to get his message out for all americans but in the hispanic communties even more. Hispanics need to know more about Obama and his beliefs and what he will do for us as a people united as one. The more he becomes familiar the better our chances for their votes this November. This is my opinion...
Hispanic registered voters' support for Barack Obama for president remained consistent and strong in June, with Obama leading John McCain by 59% to 29% among this group.While Hispanics generally preferred Hillary Clinton to Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, a solid majority of Hispanics have consistently backed Obama against McCain in general-election trial heats. Obama has led McCain by about a 2-to-1 margin since Gallup began tracking general-election voting preferences in early March.
I don't want to say I told you so -- after all, I don't know who you are -- but, well, I told you so. McCain has some support among Hispanics because, unlike most Republicans, he isn't completely crazy (in that xenophobic sort of way that characterizes so much of the nativist GOP) when it comes to immigration -- he worked with Ted Kennedy on a compromise bill, but it's not quite clear where he stands on the issue now, what with all the flippin' and floppin' and panderin' -- but Obama is clearly much more attractive to them, given his positions on the Iraq War, the economy, and other key issues.Besides, it was clear all along, if not so much to the short-sighted and narrow-minded punditocracy, that Obama was only doing poorly among Hispanics relative to Hillary, not in absolute terms. Hispanics may have preferred her to him, but that never meant that they preferred anyone to him, let alone a warmongering faux maverick who sucks up to the GOP's right-wing base like McCain. Remember that Hillary, like Bill, is especially strong among Hispanics. But now, with the long and sometimes bitter Democratic race over and done with, "Hispanics of differing demographic backgrounds all tend to solidly support Obama."Which, needless to say, bodes well for November.
(Cross-posted from The Reaction.)
There is an underlying reality that if recognized helps to unite African-Americans and Jews. Those people that are anti-semitic are the same people that are prejudiced against African-Americans. While there has arisen some mutual hostility and misunderstanding between these two groups the bulk of the hatred resides with that virulent minority of "white" people who have an equal hatred for Jews and African-Americans (and Native Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Gays, Catholics,,,the list is long and many of us are on it).
These people use their considerable wealth and power to harness the media in reporting inflamatory incidents. This is not to say that these incidents do not occur but they are found like nuggets of gold by the prejudiced and trumpeted via the media (Fox News anybody?) to fan the flames of division between minority groups like ourselves. For every incident we read about or see on t.v. that serves to make our blood boil and inflame hatred between our groups there are THOUSANDS of unreported incidents of mutual admiration, kindness and respect. When we see something like this on t.v. let's think right away, why is this being reported? Is this typical or a tragic aberration? Is this news or a way to further divide groups that if united would present a serious challenge to the status quo?
