Clinton counts on Super Tuesday Latino vote; Obama seeks breakthrough

WSJ: Two Plays for Latino Vote
Clinton Counts on Her 'Firewall';
Obama Seeks Breakthrough
By JONATHAN KAUFMAN and GERALD F. SEIB
January 29, 2008; Page A4

The battle among Democrats for the Latino vote is kicking into high gear. Sen. Hillary Clinton is counting on Latino voters to play a decisive role as several big states vote Feb. 5. Sen. Barack Obama is battling to overcome Sen. Clinton's lead and decades of hostility between Latinos and African-Americans in some major cities.

The Hispanic vote is huge in many of the states voting Feb. 5. California is the biggest prize both in overall size and in the impact of the Hispanic vote. Hispanics make up 22.8% of the eligible voters in California, a study by the Pew Hispanic Center indicates. In Arizona, Hispanics constitute 17% of eligible voters, in Colorado 12.3%, New York 11.4% and New Jersey 9.9%. The challenge for Mrs. Clinton will be to spur a high turnout among a traditionally low-turnout group of voters.

Polls show Latinos overwhelmingly backing Mrs. Clinton. Latino members of the huge Culinary Workers Union in Nevada supported Mrs. Clinton in caucuses earlier this month even though their leadership endorsed Mr. Obama. Overall, two-thirds of Latino voters supported Mrs. Clinton in Nevada, according to exit polls. Other surveys put Mrs. Clinton's support among Latinos nationally at close to 60%. The Clinton campaign refers to Latinos as their "firewall."

At the same time, Mr. Obama's candidacy is exposing the long-simmering hostility between blacks and Latinos in some neighborhoods and in politics. Michele Martinez, a Latino city councilor in Santa Ana, a major Hispanic city in southern California, says when she goes out to canvass for Mr. Obama one of the things she hears is, "I can't vote for a black man," sometimes accompanied by a racial slur. Mr. Obama got a huge lift in his fight for Latino hearts and votes yesterday when he won the enthusiastic endorsement of Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, a popular figure in much of the Hispanic community thanks to both his late brothers' appeal among Latinos and his work on behalf of minorities....

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Mrs. Clinton has several reasons, beyond any difficulty Mr. Obama may have in the Hispanic community, to hold out hope for the Hispanic vote. Her biggest advantage may simply be how well-known she is. The Clinton campaign is at pains to remind voters that Mrs. Clinton, as a law student, worked for the Democratic National Committee for a time registering voters in south Texas, including Hispanics. While first lady, she convened a conference on Hispanic education, and later one on Hispanic youth. That background has helped her win the endorsement of the United Farm Workers union, which is heavily Hispanic....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120156988909524003.html

Gee, I thought only Saint Obama did stuff like that.