Ruben Navarrette: Latinos defy the experts
By Ruben Navarrette
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune


Remember when the pundits assured us that Latinos wouldn't support an African American for president? I do. In fact, one of the last times we heard that refrain was just after the March 4 primary in Texas, a state where Latinos make up almost 40 percent of Democratic voters.

The experts claimed there was a historical tension between Latinos and African Americans, and they insisted that this feud would carry into the voting booth.

Some amateur anthropologists went further and implied that Latinos were racist because of their Latin American heritage. Of course, that theory ignored the fact these people come from countries that have already elected indigenous presidents.

The experts even offered what they saw as hard evidence that Latinos wouldn't support an African American – the fact that Hillary Clinton had so dominated the Latino vote against Barack Obama. Clinton carried Texas, California, Florida, New York, Arizona and New Mexico, all states with significant Latino populations.

It never occurred to the experts that Latinos were demonstrating loyalty to the Clinton brand, and that once Clinton was no longer in the race, they'd back the Democratic brand.

So how did Election Day turn out? Obviously, not very well for John McCain and Sarah Palin. But it was a good day for Latinos. Not only did they play a crucial role in the outcome, but they drove a stake through the heart of conventional wisdom. In his matchup with McCain, Obama won the Latino vote decisively. In fact, he won it by roughly the same margin by which he had lost that vote to Clinton several months earlier.

According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, 9.2 million Latinos were expected to vote in this election. But the turnout may have reached 10 million. That would be about 8 percent of the electorate, a significant showing for a community that represents 14 percent of the U.S. population.

According to exit polls, Obama won 66 percent of the Latino vote compared with 32 percent for McCain. Moreover, the Latino vote helped Obama carry four battleground states: Colorado, Nevada, Florida and New Mexico. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, Obama won 78 percent of the Hispanic vote in New Jersey, 78 percent in Nevada, 74 percent in California and 73 percent in Colorado.

There were a multitude of reasons why Latinos rallied around Obama. Many were loyal Democrats who never stray from the party's ticket. Others were disillusioned former supporters of President Bush. Some might have assumed that electing a person of color would somehow benefit all people of color. Many liked Obama's policies and believed his promises. And no doubt many more got caught up in the wave of enthusiasm that also swept up tens of millions of other Americans.

Whatever the reason for their support, Latinos can say they played an important role in helping to elect the nation's first African American president. Now that America's largest minority has proved the experts wrong, where does it go to get its reputation back? I know where many of them would like to tell the experts to go.


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Obama's Team Courting Former Hillary Clinton Aide
Source: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


NEW YORK (AP) -- Democratic officials say President-elect Obama's transition aides have approached Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's former campaign manager about taking a senior White House post.

These officials say Patti Solis Doyle is considering taking the job, although she worries about the effect it would have on her two young children. She was contacted about possibly becoming Cabinet secretary, a job that involves coordinating the efforts of the White House and cabinet-level agencies.

The officials who described the developments did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to disclose them.

Doyle has worked for Clinton in a number of capacities, first in the White House and most recently when she made her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.