Ruben Navarrette Jr. says that Hillary Clinton could retrace steps back and look back to losing the Latino voters if she loses the Democratic nomination. So far, Barack Obama has been gaining a marginal lead over Hillary Clinton in delegates ever since the Super Tuesday contests on February 5.
He says that it is possible that Clinton’s husband, former United States President Bill Clinton could have harmed her candidacy. However, Bill Clinton while in an interview by Eddie Sotelo, Spanish-language radio host, that there is a strong chance that the Latino vote would be the major part in deciding who becomes the Democratic nominee and possibly the next United States president.
In the past, Hillary Clinton led over Barack Obama by 2-1 in the Latino vote. The excitement about Obama has reached out to multiple cultures and ethnicities. Naverette also comments that Obama lost in the Nevada caucus by not asking what the Latino vote could do for him.
But, Obama did win the Latino vote on Super Tuesday such as: Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. In Texas, Clinton and Obama are in dead heat according to a recent poll. However, Obama is still trailing Clinton in Texas. Texas is one of the two “must win” states for Clinton.
However, Obama has been making an impact in Texas.
Navarette also explains in his commentary that neither Clinton has done much for the Latino community in regards to careers in public service. He says most of the support they receive comes from loyalty to the brand name. In that aspect, Navarette compares the Clinton name to a brand of laundry detergent that customers keep on buying just because of the name.
In a sense, it is in the same regards as the Asian voters in Washington. In an episode of Anderson Cooper 360, they had a segment prelude to the Washington state caucus. They interviewed Asians and most have said that they supported Clinton because of the name. When they thought of Clinton, they have thought of Bill Clinton.
But, one thing Navarette notes that one harsh mistake that Clinton has made is during a Los Angeles debate where she would answer a question by placing Latino immigrants against African-Americans.
Obama said that placing blame on immigrants for the unemployment among blacks was something that should not be tolerated. He had given warning that immigration should not be used as a means to split people.
Regardless, while Clinton could lose the Latino vote, that voting bloc should be considered as a swing voting bloc.