McAuliffe: Obama Has A Hispanic Problem

According to Politico's Ken Vogel, Terry McAuliffe told a group of reporters that Obama has a Hispanic "problem". Ok I will dismiss the irony that McAuliffe is able to recognize a "Hispanic problem" now that he is no longer the DNC chair. While McAuliffe was DNC Chair he couldn't be convinced that the organization was not spending enough resources on Latino outreach. In fact, during McAuliffe's stint at the DNC Democrats lost Latino market share to the GOP. I will give McAuliffe the benefit of the doubt and believe that over the last six months he has realized the strategic importance of the Latino vote to the Democratic Party and especially to Democratic White House prospects.

Of course, anyone that looks at the issue objectively realizes that the majority of Latino voters are yet to warm to the Obama campaign. Now. I am sure that there will be the chorus of folks decrying McAuliffe as racially divisive for pointing out the GOP elephant in the Latino room. I also know that others will accuse Latinos of racism for not automatically jumping on board the Obama jet to the White House. However, let me do what has now become inconceivable among Democratic pundits: let me put responsibility of a failure with a key constituency not on the constituency itself but on the candidate. (If nothing else it's a novel approach and my email will be interesting)

I am in good company in making this assertion. In fact, Obama himself has admitted time and time again that he has not matched Clinton's outreach efforts to Hispanics. So at this point a thinking person has to ask the question: why has there not been any correction by team Obama to the "Latino problem?"

The Clinton campaign in contrast has made what can be accurately described as a record-setting effort in Latino outreach for presidential campaigns. HRC has proven what Latino activists have been trying to tell the DNC and Democratic candidates for decades: If you spend the time, energy and resources on Latino outreach, Latinos will reward you with votes. However, if you ignore us and wait until a couple of weeks before the election you will not be successful. If you have more questions on this point I direct you to Senator Kerry.

While this is a little secret in Democratic circles, it is not at the RNC, John McCain knows that he only needs roughly better than 35% to 40% of Latino voters in key swing states to solidify his lock on the Electoral College. In fact of all the Repubs McCain knows the Hispanic problem/opportunity best.

McCain is currently making a Latino play in New Mexico and early efforts are rewarded by Latinos. Well over a year ago I wrote a piece on Nuestravoice.com saying that the Obama campaign needed to match Clinton's approach to Latinos if they were going to compete with her with this key constituency. The piece was met with anger and no action and yet turned out to be true. While the superdelegates meet with the candidate over the next few days and come to the question of electability they would be wise to ask why this longstanding "Latino problem" has not been corrected. The question must be asked not to McAuliffe or to Latinos but to the candidate himself.

Mario Solis-Marich is the founding editor of MyLatinoNews.com and hosts a progressive radio show which can be streamed at www.GoToMario.com

Comments

[bigbingtheory]

Hey Mario,
told you so,
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/03/republicans-begin-to-highlight-clinton%e2%80%99s-criticism-of-obama/

[bigbingtheory]

I don't pretend to know how the moderators do their thing. But I have to say, I have posted, or tried to, two separate times exposing Mario's Hillary fetish and his antagonism towards Obama supporters on his local Denver radio show.
Mario is quit the coward when confronted with Hillary's obvious flaws and gaffs. He complains about prog blogs like Huffpo and Rawstory for attacking Hillary instead of addressing her comments and actions.
He doesn't respond to criticism well. He'll shout you down, cut you off or ignore you altogether. If he had the willingness to listen he might learn that it is people like himself who are dividing the party and his hispanic problem is his own, not Obama's.

[OliverTwist]

It is sad that Mario Solis-Marich does not see the votes for Hillary as for Hillary and instead sees them as being about Obama. Too bad.

One wonders if someone should ask Latino voters whether they would vote for Pancho Villa or perhaps General Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar rather than Obama if Hillary does not get the nomination.

[atrivera15]

This is propaganda plain and simple. I am a hispanic male, I have a huge hispanic family and only a couple of people in my family are going to vote for Hilary and they are all women. This reminds me of the Republicans, if you say it enough times it will become truth to those uneducated simple minds that dictate this countries sad state of affairs. As a country we are always talking about how important education is. Yet during this election the educated individuals have overwhemlingly backed Obama yet these people don't seem to matter. When as a country will we start to realize that education is a huge factor in who is picked for president. The uneducated people of this country are emotional voters plain and simple. So they can be swayed and manipulated easily. The cons and Hilary know this and have used it to their advantage. This is why I lump Hilary right in with those corporatists that are in the white house right now. Hilary is Mrs. Walmart to me, this is why so many people that read and actually understand the issues have a problem with her.

[Citizenofreality]

I'm sure the Obama team will do everything in it's power to reach out to the Hispanic population. But I have a question for you Mario. Since you are a Hispanic and you are a progressive AND you have a microphone why don't you help?

[onelife1]

He has a

Pastor PROBLEM
Hard working white PROBLEM
Woman PROBLEM
Hispanic PROBLEM
Jewish PROBLEM

give me a break, HOW DID HE WIN??????
blacks & non working whites--- pick rocks.....­.

[Bettysdad]

Mario, you lost whatever tiny shred of credibility you thought you had a few weeks ago on KTLK . In yet another attack on Obama, you brought up his "Annie Oakley" comment and said "Is he trying to say she's butch? Is he calling her a lesbian?"

Sorry. He was mocking her new-found enthusiasm for guns, her claimed life-long enthusiasm for guns, her love of hunting. He said "it's like she's running around with a six-gun on her hip. Who does she think she is? Annie Oakley?"

Who better to compare a supposed gun-lover to than the most famous sharpshooter in our history? That she happens to be a woman is even better. Can you name another famous sharpshooter, male or female?

What should Obama have said that YOU would have approved of.

For the record Annie Oakley was married with a couple of kids. I hope someday to be as good a shot that someone calls me an "Annie Oakley."

[Cyclone]

I used to look forward to listening to Mr. Solis-Marich local radio show every Sunday. Just before the California primary he started to roll out what her referred to as the Obama campaign's "dirty little secrets", all the while claiming not to support one cadidate over another. Every show there was another "dirty little secret" about Obama or the campaign that he got from an "insider". He constantly told anyone who questioned his "inside information" that being an insider himself he knew all the stuff "they don't want you to know". Somehow he never found his way to ever find anything questionable about Clinton. He answered criticism of her tactics by saying "it's just politics or Obama would do it too if given the chnace".

Enough already. It's time to stop. It's over. It's time to come together and not continue to foster deviciveness with posts such as this one. Obama is about to have the full force of the Republican slime/ political machine come down on him and our party. We need to pull toghether to fight. Mr. Solis-Marich is just another disgruntled Clinton supporter, you can join him and his new BFF Terry McAuliffe or you can go forward and work for postive change for all races.

[lavisiter]

Yes, thank you for this valuable point of view! And no doubt Obama and his so called intelligent, insensitive and mostly irrational Obama supporters will find a way to POINT the finger when they loose at HRC or her supporters YET AGAIN when they LOOSE!

Blind arrogance and self-will is going to take this country down YET AGAIN!

[knighthowl]

Are you familiar with the concept of projection?

[FOXYLADY]

BLIND ARROGANCE AND SELF-WILL DESCRIBE EXACTLY OUR PRESENT PRESIDENT.­.... PLEASE....­....CHANGE IS NEEDED AND IT WILL COME WITH HILLARY CLINTON, A STRONG WOMAN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE

[mulegino]

It's time to stop this political tribalism once and for all. "Hispanic" means just one thing: a person who either hails from a Spanish speaking country, or one of such ancestry. That's about it. "Latino" is simply a ridiculous term, since Italians, Portuguese, Romanians, and the French would appear to be excluded from being "Latinos".
Hispanics are as diverse a group as any other. Other than Spanis, what do they have in common with one another? What does a banker from Buenos Aires really have in common with a farmer from Oaxaca? What do Bolivian highlanders have in common with Boricuas? What does a Cuban restauranteur in Miami really have in common with a mechanic from Mexicali?
The fact is that the finality of good politics, and by extension, of good government as a whole, is the pursuit of the common good, the well being of all. "Hispanics" have a role to play, just like anybody else, as politicians, family members, and responsible citizens, not as a fictional tribe. Once more, the politics of tribalism must not trump the politics of the common good.

[hokulele]

I am also Hispanic. So, I am Latino, Hispanic, which one Mario? I am an American of Mexican descent. I support Obama as I have taken the time to find out as much as I can about who is who and doing what to whom, etc. I don't have a panic attack if someone calls me Latino, Hispanic, or whatever. But, in a public article, it should be made clear, claro?

[hokulele]

Mario, please take care in recognizing that Hispanic and Latino do not have the same meaning and are not interchangeable as a label. I am Latino and I support Obama. You, as do so many politicians, have an insulting view: if someone comes around and brings us blankets and trinkets, then we will buddy up with them. You are demeaning the complexities of the people. All people.

[leduck]

Latino is Spanish for Latin. The Romans were the altimate Latins. The Spanish, Portugues, French, Italians, and Romanians all speak a Romance language -- a Latin language. As far as I'm concerned, Latino is too broad a word. It includes most of southern Europe -- or at least should. Hispanic narrows things down to the Iberian penninsula. Latin America is a baby of the Iberian culture, as apposed to the U.S. and Canada which are babies of northern Europe.
Hispanic isn't much liked by many people on the West coast ehich are heavily Mexican decent like me. Hispanics don't like their overlords.­.., in the case of Mexico..., the Spanish -- so they hate the word Hispanic even though it is the word that makes most sence -- but of course it would not cover full blooded Mexican Indians.
So in truth -- their is no good word to cover all Hispanics -- nut I don't have a problem with the Spanish -- of course I'm mostly Spanish, Portugues, and German decent (from Mexico), with 1/4 Indian and relate alot more to the Invader.
So call me an ass but I prefer Hispanic..­., it narrows things down.

[Bettysdad]

Mario doesn't bother with nuance. If there's anything that sounds vaguely spanish in any of your names, he'll claim you as one of his "people," and tell you anyone but Mrs. Bill Clinton actually will harm you.

[LincolnlandBabe]

Bravo!!! As a Hispanic woman, I am proud to be recognized as part of a powerful voting block. I am of the school of though that my junior Senator from Illinois hasn't bothered to court Hispanic voters enough--at this point, it would be totally disingenuous for him to even try. Hell, when Obama ran for his U.S. Senate seat in 2004, he didn't even bother to campaign in the county that I live in, which is one of the largest Chicago collar counties, and one of the wealthiest counties in the nation. Hillary understands the concerns of Hispanic voters more than Obama does because she actually takes the time to listen to us, and yes, in return, she is rewarded by our votes. And like many other Hispanic voters come November, I also will be voting for McCain, for I don't think that serving a whopping three and a half years in the U.S. Senate makes Obama qualified to be the leader of the free world. Also, Hispanics aren't quitters, nor do they like quitters, which is what Obama is--He can't even finish the job he was elected to do.

[milo9]

Obama victory spells an end to identity politics. It's the past, get used to it.

[knighthowl]

Now here is a fine idea. Let's screw the country because Obama did not campaign in your county.

I have a better idea. Why not consider who has the better policies? Novel idea, huh?

[TheIndependenceParty]

If Obama gains the nomination as appears likely, and if, as some of Hillary Clinton's supporters indicate, they will take a walk on the GE, or worse yet, vote for McCain, it would seem the Democratic Party, and not the Republic Party, is in a position of imploding.

Mark my words that if the Clintons sit out another election for President, failing as they have in the last two to strongly advocate for the election of theDemocratic Nominee, Obama, ... they will incur the wrath of not only the Democratic Party on them both, but the nation as well.

At that point, Bush and McCain and the Fourth Reich, will have totally perverted the Supreme Court, squandered our national treasury, and destroyed our Constitution and every Treaty to which we were a party. We will be at the mercy of every enemy in the world, and have no defenses left.

Thanks, Hill and Bill. You could not have done more damage if your were Richard Nixon reincarnated!

[lavisiter]

Actually "TheIndepe­ndencePart­y" MILLIONS of people in this nation MILLIONS of "We the PEOPLE" are NOW enraged with people JUST LIKE YOU who don't have anything better to do than to BLAME everyone in the WORLD but yourselves for the MESS that we may ALL find ourselves in! GET IT? MILLIONS and MILLIONS of VOTERS DO NOT SEE IT YOUR WAY and we're disgusted by your pompous abuse of the Clintons! Your BLIND inability to see what's going on in the MEDIA. YOUR ignorance of what the MEDIA has done to rip this country of it's democracy by INFLUENCING the outcome of this election! BUT THAT'S JUST WHAT YOU WANTED BECAUSE YOU WILL GO TO ANY LENGTH TO HAVE YOUR CANDIDATE ELECTED! And your unwillingness to see Hillary Rodham Clinton as an autonomous candidate!!!!!

[bigbingtheory]

I'm so sorry but Hillary has earned much of the criticism. She is killing our chances in November by dragging this out. She lost to a better candidate and she continues to hurt the party and tarnish her legacy.

[PioneerKing]

MARIO:

Thanks for caling out McAuliffe. If Sen. Obama has a problem connecting to Latino's part of the disconnect is a result of the divisive tactics used by the clintons.
BTW McAuliffe looks, acts and sounds like he may have a problem of some other kind.

[xrmychick]

Oh, don't forget. Global warming is the Clinton's fault too! Give me a freaking break. Stop blaming every damn problem in Obama's campaign on the Clinton's. If Obama is as great as you all think he is, he should have absolutely no problem overcoming all of these horrible, awful, disgusting things that Clinton has done...lik­e inventing plastic water bottles to be tossed into landfills thereby creating nice habitats for malaria carrying mosquitos to breed...an­d become POTUS!

[bigbingtheory]

Well friend Hillary Clinton has not helped Obama's standing among Latinos has she? There's no need to be hysterical but her staying in this race when she should have dropped out months ago has only hurt the nominee. You can whine all you want but the fact of the matter is we have one and if you aren't with the party, you're against it.

[IndependentMynd]

See
http://vivirlatino.com/2008/06/02/people-need-to-calm-down-about-hillary-clintons-rican-win.php

There continues to be a problem when looking at 'groups' of people as if they were of one collective mind. Not all Obama supporters are college kids or left-wing fanatics. Not all Clinton supporters are old, white women. Not all African-Americans are the same. Not all Hispanics are the same. People keep forgetting this.

[sistermoon]

Terry McAuliffe has a common sense problem. I'll be so happy when I don't have to look at him anymore.