Obama still no showing and “No se puede” to Latino media and outreach
Washington, DC.,_ With a handful of exceptions Latinos are still not “feeling the love” that it takes to build a lasting relationship thru mutual respect and trust with Senator Barack Obama. It is true that he is now, at the summer starting gate, running out front with a big lead and his fundraising and organizing crews seem to be going at full throttle. There is still a leak in the Obama ship of state when it comes to his weak relationship with Latinos. There may be no other show in town, unless McCain suddenly wakes up and finds he can appeal to Latinos in a big way, but the Illinois senator needs to understand and perhaps learn that the Latino community has survived without him or any party holding them up for a long time and can do so for however long necessary. Obama does not understand Latino pride and respect. If we are not invited to a party it’s very simple – we do not attend!
This week the Latino media corps joined a chorus of Latino voices from across the country asking “donde esta Obama” and wondering if Dolores Huerta was right during the primaries when she said “all Latinos know about him is ‘como se llama’ (what’s his name).” Writers, bloggers and others have already noted that there is little to know connection between them and the Obama campaign. There is not even much of an effort to fake it. A column this week be Gebe Martinez highlighted the Obama Latino gap by very simply stating, “In a week when Obama was appealing to Hispanic members of Cogress to be as loyal to him as they were to his former Democratic rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, his campaign was experiencing a major disconnect with the reporters who communicate to the community.” Martinez’ column pointed out that last month La Opinion’s Pilar Marrero weighed in on the topic writing, “Usually, to do the job, reporters need a constant and accessible contact person in the campaign. In Obama’s case, this has been virtually impossible: there is not – nor has there ever been – regular communication with the Hispanic press. One wonders what might happen in the general election campaign, and then in an eventual Democratic presidency, if indeed they win in November.” Is there a pattern here? How do we “splain” to our community the January rejection of Cesar Chavez’ grandchildren’s endorsement and last week’s long distance telephone endorsement call with the UFW that ended in “Si se puede.” Cesar Chavez would non violently spank him for that one. Senator, you have a Latino gap – best bet is to close it!
