Hillarys's potential Latino(a) Problem
by highgrade, Tue Feb 12, 2008 at 06:23:54 AM EST
I had a feeling this would happen, but apparently the recent "reshuffling" of the Clinton campaign team - with Patti Solis Doyle stepping aside in favor of another longtime Clinton advisor Maggie Williams - is causing some tension among a Latino superdelegate and El Diario/La Prensa (described as "the largest and oldest Spanish-language daily newspaper in New York City, and the oldest Spanish-language daily in the United States.")
The e-mail from, Steven Ybarra, a California superdelegate who heads the voting-rights committee of the DNC Hispanic Caucus, was sent to fellow caucus members in the hours after word broke that Solis Doyle - the most prominent Latina in Clinton's campaign - would be replaced by another close Clinton loyalist, Maggie Williams, who is black.
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The superdelegate, Steven Ybarra apparently wrote an email to several DNC colleagues.
Taken from http://www.nypost.com/seven/02122008/new s/nationalnews/super_latino_slams_clinto n_97237.htm
"The e-mail noted that Clinton, who is looking to Latino voters for a boost in the Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4, scored heavily with Hispanics in her California win.
"Apparently, loyalty is not a two-way street," he wrote. "Latino superdelegates like myself . . . will have cause to pause."
Ybarra told The Post yesterday that the loss of Solis Doyle, a child of Mexican immigrants, just weeks before the Texas primary, where 36 percent of the population is Hispanic, was "dumb as a stump."
The Spanish language newspaper was not as tough, but still sounds like they're accusing the Clinton campaign of taking advantage of the positive news gained through publicizing in heavily Latino states that the manager was a fellow Latina.
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Taken from http://www.eldiariony.com/noticias/detai l.aspx?section=25&desc=Editorial& ;id=1811270
"Hillary Clinton's campaign is in trouble and the highest ranking Hispanic in her camp is paying the price. Campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle stepped down this weekend - after Barack Obama beat Clinton handily in four states scattered in different regions of the country.
Transitions happen in any campaign. And sometimes they work wonders. John McCain's camp underwent a revamp when his poll numbers cratered and his chances of winning the Republican nomination were written-off by the national media.
With Clinton's losing streak looking like it might extend all the way to March, the campaign probably had to project some internal shift - a fall-person, as it were, was needed. The irony is that back when Solis Doyle, the daughter of a Mexican immigrant who worked as a janitor in Chicago, came on board, she was celebrated as the first Hispanic woman to run a presidential campaign. One of the key constituencies that has actually turned out for Clinton is Hispanic voters. Indeed, Clinton's chances of winning the nomination may rise or fall on the Latino turn-out in the upcoming Texas primary. What effect Solis Doyle's resignation will have on Hispanic voters remains to be seen. But it cannot help.
There is an old saying from the factory floor - last hired, first fired. This practice is sadly well known to African Americans and Latinos, who have had to fight to gain access to jobs and opportunities, and struggle just as hard to hold on to them without the safety nets of a social network or seniority in status.
Clinton has worked hard for the Hispanic votes she has won so far in this tight race, and it would be a mistake to risk alienating that base."
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Tags: 2008, Hillary, Hispanic, latino, obama, texas (all tags)
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myDD - skin
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