Lurking just below the surface of Super Tuesday's returns is Hillary Clinton's continued dominance of the Hispanic vote. I still can't quite figure this out, but she is getting more love than Che' Guevara. Obama? Not so much.
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton won the Latino vote on Super Tuesday by a 2-to-1 margin in key states such as New York, California and New Jersey. That gave her a decisive win with the fastest-growing demographic in the country, possibly setting the stage for the general election when Latinos could make a huge difference in swing states.I'll be more than forthcoming in admitting my lack of understanding of Latino culture and issues. I grew up in an extremely segregated Southern town where there were only blacks and whites. Period. I went to
Clinton focused on winning over Latino voters in recent vigorous campaigning in California and Arizona. She benefited from high-profile endorsements from Latino leaders such as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union.
While Illinois Sen. Barack Obama did not win the Latino vote in California, he managed to attract younger Latino voters. Clinton culled her support , as she did in other states , from older voters. The wave of Latino support for Clinton began during the Nevada caucuses, when she won the Latino vote two-to-one.
That said, I've been scratching my head trying to figure out exactly why Barack Obama's candidacy is doing so well with seemingly every other demographic slice except our brown brethren and sistren. Few seem immune to the Politricks of Hope Movement, but Latinos are hardly flocking to the message. I'm so clueless about Hispanic culture that I don't even have a snappy/humorous punchline to insert here. Go figure.
If you listen to talk radio, peep the cable talking monkeys, or peruse the blogosphere, you'll get a variety of opinions, and most seem to key in on the sordid recent history of black and brown disunity in this country as a factor. By this rationale, many blacks have lost jobs to Hispanics. Hispanics have taken over traditionally black neighborhoods. Hispanics either consider themselves superior or inferior to blacks. Hispanics want to assimilate and thus are more apt to gravitate toward a white candidate. Hispanics do not trust blacks. Blacks do not trust Hispanics. J-Lo used Diddy and Ja Rule for street cred, then dumped black America for Marc Anthony.
Again, folks, I don't make up this stuff, I just regurgitate it. [||]
On theory I hadn't considered until one of my wise AverageCommenters (AnonyMiss, take a bow) suggested it is that Hispanics simply still hold the Clintons in high regard and see no reason to choose Obama instead. Let's not forget that just a few months ago, blacks were still very much split on Obama/Clinton. Then of course, Bill started showing his ass, the dopeboy inferences were tossed, and lo and behold, Barry is getting Snoop Dogg-like love from hoods' coast to coast. Could it be that Hispanics simply haven't been insulted enough yet to consider switching sides? That's not as implausible a theory as it might sound. Again, AnonyMiss, take a bow. The Capri Suns are on the way.
Question: Why do you think Hispanics aren't getting behind Obama?
Votes are in and Obama has a Hispanic problem [Ventura County Star]
Clinton Overwhelmingly Wins Latino Vote [NPR]
