Courting Hispanics: A closer look

Hillary Clinton - In a recent Bloomberg article, it was made clear that Clinton has made efforts to reach out to the Hispanic community to offset gains made by Barack Obama in the African American community. With endorsements from prominent leaders like Raul Yzaguirre, former president of NCLR, Fabian Nuñez, Speaker of the CA Assembly, Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union, Adolfo Carrión, Jr., Bronx Borough President, and Senator Robert Menendez, Clinton sure boasts a lot of support from Hispanic leaders across the country. Let us also not forget that Clinton's Chief of Staff, Patti Solis Doyle, is the first Latina to run a presidential campaign.

Barack Obama - While Obama doesn't have the vast array of endorsements as Clinton, he has had two incredibly important meetings with two people who could really encourage support for him. Eddie Sotelo and Renán Almendárez Coello - better known as "Piolín" and "El Cucuy" - are two radio DJs credited with driving turnout for the massive immigration marches that occurred in May, 2006.

Bill Richardson - Richardson, who was born in Pasadena, CA to an American father and Mexican mother is one of two bilingual candidates in the Democratic field. He grew up in Mexico City and is the Governor of a Southwestern state. The man behind his ads is Lionel Sosa who is no stranger to presidential elections. Most recently, Sosa helped deliver 40% of the Hispanic vote to George Bush in 2004. Richardson, who also announced his candidacy in Spanish, also highlights the support he has from Latinos in various YouTube videos.

Chris Dodd - As the recipient of one of NCLR's Capital Awards, Dodd is no stranger to the Hispanic community. And, as the video below shows, Dodd is the other bilingual candidate in the field, having learned to speak Spanish during his time in the Peace Corps.


Joe Biden - Biden's campaign manager, Luis Navarro, is Hispanic.

08/21/2007
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