Disculpa me. No estoy seguro que usted sabe nada de lo communidad hispana.
Vivia por un ano en el Peru, y aprendi hablar Espanol aya.
I don't know if you, with all your insight into the Hispanic community, can speak Spanish.
The reality is that HRC is doing well with older Hispanics and with naturalized immigrants precisely because many are somewhat cut off by language. They know the Clintons from BC Presidency and they are not familiar enough to be comfortable with Obama. As they get to know him better his numbers will improve. It will be interesting to see if Richardson makes a difference in the short run.
Obviously you speak speak Spanish. Why would you state it when you're writing in Spanish?
I'm a Californian. Speaking spanish doesn't impress me.
Thanks for explaining why so many Latinos support Senora Clinton, although we already know that since that's the way they overhwhelmingly voted. The groundswell of Latinos becoming comfortable with Obama hasn't happened yet, so you're just theorizing. You think Richardson will make a big difference, I doubt it because he hasn't gotten that support yet. I'm dealing with the facts that have actually occurred, you're speculating.
The reason I used a little Spanish was your statement about lumping all Hispanics together. I'm afraid it struck me as pretty condescending and I wanted to indicate that I do have some knowledge having travelled across much of Latin America.
I think it is a process. My point is not to denigrate the substantial support that Clinton has, but to put it in some context. Immigrant voters, particularly those whose first language is something other than English are somewhat cut off from the MSM. They tend to be more reliant on leaders within their community to give them direction about which candidates to support.
I am not trying to suggest that Obama is going to get a huge bump from Richardson. I am saying that if Obama wins the nomination and the endorsements of a large spectrum of Hispanic leaders, he is positioned to do well in the fall.
I do not think that Hispanics have a deep emotional tie with Hillary in the same way that many women have a tie to HRC and many AAs have a tie to Obama. I don't think Hispanics are going to stay home if Obama gets the nomination.
Nice try, but I never lumped all Latinos together, nor was I condescending. In fact, I was the one who disputed that they would "follow their leaders". I think Latinos don't vote as a bloc, but in general they are more loyal to Clinton than they are to the Democratic party. And because they are the fastest growing demographic in the nation, we can't take their votes for granted or they will vote Republican. Schwarzenegger had huge Latino support in our gubernatorial election.
Not sure why you question the loyalty of Latinos for Hillary so much. If you look at the coverage of her campaigning in CA, TX and NV, I think you'll discover there's a lot of love for her in the Latino community.
Here's one good example: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me- lopez10feb10,1,6474408,full.column
And while it's great that you've travelled and speak spanish, there are plenty of fluent spanish speakers that don't know jack about Latinos in the U.S. There's a huge lack of understanding about Latinos, especially by people who don't live in the west and don't understand that many Latinos are not immigrants at all, are not outsiders in their communities, and already know how to wield political power.
Certainly I agree with you that Latinos are not a block. There are differences based on county of origin; generational differences; and length of time in the US. Obviously Latinos in New Mexico who have lived in the same community for generations have a different take that someone who is recently naturalized.
My point about Hillary is that while she has won their support by large margins, I do not see that as a reflection of hostility towards Obama. I see it more as a matter of unfamiliarity, and that gives me hope that, if he is the nominee, he will be able to win over a large percentage of Latinos. McCain is certainly a threat to take a good chunk of the Hispanic vote. OTOH, he is now pretty tied to the Repubs on immigration and on economic policy. I think most expect whomever is the Dem nominee to do better than Kerry did in 04.
I don't know how Kerry did with Latinos in 2004, but I can't imagine that he would be an attractive candidate to them.
You think that Latinos do not support Obama because of unfamiliarity. I think Latinos support Clinton because of familiarity and true affection. With any luck (as far as I'm concerned) we won't ever find out how Latinos feel about Obama v. McCain.
What are your thoughts on how Hillary has run her campaign? In particular, are you comfortable with the volume and intensity of her attacks on Obama?
I think the attacks have been of similar volume and intensity on both sides and I am totally comfortable with it. I expect politicians to lie, cheat and steal to win elections, and no one has failed to live up to these expectations.
(FWIW...I don't feel this way about all people. I expect/demand honesty and integrity from people around me. I just think politics is a dirty game that should only be played by people who want to roll around in the mud.)
