By: Gebe Martinez
Feb 21, 2008 06:11 AM EST
As Barack Obama looks to the March 4 Texas primary as an opportunity
to drive a stake through the heart of Hillary Rodham Clinton's
campaign, it's no secret that broadening his appeal among the state's
sizable Hispanic community is critical.
The problem for Obama – and for Clinton as well, to some degree – is
that the Latino community in Texas is so complex and diverse that it
makes a targeted appeal (or pander) a very tricky business.
In other words, reaching these voters is not as simple as tossing
around a few words in Spanish.
"If you are not Hispanic, my advice to candidates would be, 'Don't do
it. It's not you,'" said Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-Tex.), who
represents a San Antonio congressional district previously held by his
father. "Hispanics appreciate some Spanish, but not necessarily so."
Clinton is assumed to have an advantage as a result of her well-known
brand name and longstanding friendships with Texas Hispanics, which
date back to her work as a Texas organizer for George McGovern in the
1972 presidential election. Obama is introducing himself to these
voters for the first time, a task complicated by the considerable
complexity of appealing to the multi-faceted Texas Latino community.
For the Obama campaign, there are generational distinctions to make
among Hispanic voters, stylistic differences to account for and even
ideological and racial divides to be bridged. On top of all that,
there is the matter of keeping Hispanic voters involved in the
critical but convoluted weeks-long state delegate selection process.
Texas Hispanic turnout in the last presidential election offers a
glimpse into an electorate that is anything but monolithic: 57 percent
were Democrats, 26 percent were Republicans and almost 16 percent were
Independents.
Hispanic independents will be a key target, said Gonzalez, who
endorsed Obama last week. "They are not new to the process. They have
been engaged in the process but they have not been sure for
(Democrats)."
Obama, he said, "has wide appeal to them."
Texas Latinos are not monolithic in the way they get their news and
information either. In the 2006 gubernatorial election, where Latinos
made up 18 percent of voters, almost two-thirds of them said that
English language television, newspaper, radio and the internet were
the media sources that most influenced their votes, according to the
William C. Velasquez Institute, which studies Latino voting behavior.
How both candidates talk about immigration will also matter, since
Texas Hispanics are not of one mind on the issue.
Obama's and Clinton's votes to build a fence along the Texas-Mexico
border will be opposed along the border areas because of land rights
concerns and also because towns on both sides of the border value the
benefits of international commerce.
On the question of drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants, Obama
will draw static for his support even though he was beginning to gain
some traction in California with that position. Texas, it turns out,
has fewer immigrants than California, and thus has a more rooted,
multi-generational U.S. citizen. These Hispanic Americans are as
committed to law-and-order as their fellow citizens outside the state.
"I think they will probably say 'no'" to drivers' licenses, said Rep.
Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat and a Clinton supporter who chuckled
at the idea of some of his more conservative-minded Hispanic
constituents backing such an idea. Cuellar represents a South Texas
district which includes part of the border from Laredo and southward
to McAllen in the Rio Grande Valley.
The liberal MoveOn.org and labor unions targeted him for defeat in
the 2006 party primary, arguing that his moderate voting record was
out of step with his largely Hispanic district. A photograph of him at
the 2006 State of the Union address, where President Bush
affectionately held Cuellar's face in his hands was widely
distributed, but Cuellar won re-election—a testament to his feel for
his district's politics.
"Anybody who thinks that Hispanics are absolutely liberal, they are
wrong. At least in my district," he said.
In Houston, where Hispanic and black political interests have often
clashed over local issues, the question is whether Hispanics will
reject Obama because he is African-American.
