PREVIOUS ISSUES : NEWS : Outtakes Last Updated: March 15, 2008 - 3:24 PM   There's Something About Bill: La Vida Bill By David Alire Garcia Published: September 26, 2007   Email this article   Printer friendly page   How will the Hispanic vote play? If Gov. Bill Richardson’s bid for La Casa Blanca is successful, he would make history as the nation’s first Latino president. Here’s a sampling of what three national political strategists tell SFR about how the Hispanic vote will play out over the next few months—and the advantages Señor Richardson brings to the game. “Bill Richardson is a great governor and a prominent Latino figure. He has a significant advantage. He speaks Spanish and knows our issues. I think Richardson has caught fire and vaulted into, let’s say, the second tier with John Edwards… But it’s also difficult with Latinos nationally. You have Cubans and Puerto Ricans and maybe they don’t feel him as much. Also, his last name is Richardson. There’s not an immediate sense that he’s Latino. And that’s difficult to overcome.” —Mark Magaña, principal, Hispanic Strategy Group, a lobbying and public relations firm based in Washington DC. “I think it’s very early. The Univision debate reached about 1 out of 10 Latinos in the country; 4.6 million people saw it. I think the early test is how Gov. Richardson does in Nevada, and from all accounts he’s doing very well there. It’s the second voting state now. Nevada also has the second highest percentage of foreign born Hispanic voters in the country, after Florida. I’m sure he’s going to be advertising very heavily in Spanish in Nevada. He’s of Mexican descent, he speaks Spanish fluently. Richardson has a unique offering to the Democratic electorate. But Latino voters are sophisticated enough that being Latino isn’t enough. He’s going to have to earn it.”—Simon Rosenberg, president, New Democrat Network, a Washington, DC, political committee that advocates a Southwestern strategy for national Democrats. “I think it’s wide open for the presidential candidates to get the Hispanic vote. Here’s the striking thing: Among voters age 18 to 24, there’s more registered Hispanics than non-Hispanics. Among registered voters between ages 25 and 40, 35 percent of them are Hispanics, 25 percent are non-Hispanics. So this tells you that the raw number of Hispanics is a larger group than non-Hispanics from 18 to 40, according to Univision polling. What it tells you is that every candidate, including Gov. Richardson, is going to have to go after the young Hispanic vote. …There’s a slight advantage because Gov. Richardson is Hispanic. But outside of New Mexico, many people don’t know that. It’s going to be about the issues.”—Moses Mercado, 2005-2007 deputy executive director of the Democratic National Committee. To read more SFR coverage of the governor’s presidential campaign, go to www.sfrblogsbill.blogspot.com. © Copyright 2000-2008 by the Santa Fe Reporter Save This Page to del.icio.us Top of Page