ALBUQUERQUE — Behind the story of the resignation of Fernando C. de Baca, chairman of the Bernalillo County Republican Party, is the history of the conflict between Hispanics and blacks in New Mexico that even presidential candidate Barack Obama’s supporters acknowledge.

C. de Baca resigned yesterday over a blog posting published  Sept. 19 on BBC News’ Web site. C. de Baca was quoted  as saying, “The truth is that Hispanics came here as conquerors. African-Americans came here as slaves. Hispanics consider themselves above blacks. They won’t vote for a black president.” C. de Baca claimed the quote was taken out of context.

Those comments were “racist” and “undiplomatic,” according to Juan Jose Pena, state commander of the American G.I. Forum of New Mexico and chairman of the Hispano Roundtable of New Mexico. “It is nevertheless true that there were many disagreements and conflicts between Hispanos and Blacks during the Civil Rights Movement,” he said. Pena is an Obama supporter.

While some Hispanics and a political scientist say C. de Baca’s comments represent only a small minority of voters, such sentiments are clearly present among some older Hispanics. C. de Baca, a Republican, may be at the center of the current controversy, but it was state Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana, roughly the same age as C. de Baca, who earlier this year told the Rocky Mountain News: “I don’t know one single Hispanic over 50 who will cast a vote for Obama.” She also conceded that “there have always been conflicts between blacks and browns.”

Because older voters tend to go to the polls in greater numbers than young voters, it remains unclear how such sentiments might affect the presidential race — in particular Barack Obama’s candidacy. But Pena said Obama’s lead in New Mexico could dwindle, especially in Northern and Southern New Mexico, where some older Hispanic voters remember the conflicts between Hispanics and blacks during the Civil Rights Movement.

“There is a sentiment by some in primarily Northern and Southern New Mexico that Chicanos were put out in left field during the Civil Rights Movement,” Pena said. “Could it be significant for either candidate in the election? I think it could be for several factors.” (Chicano is a term that refers to individuals of Mexican-American descent — and to those who trace their lineage to Spain — who used it to describe themselves during the 1960s and 1970s; it is still used by some today.)

One, he said, is the fact that the generation that might still remember being left out of the picture when equal rights were being championed is one that votes –- in large numbers. Add to that the large number of Hispanic veterans in the state, and Barack Obama’s seven- or eight-point edge over McCain might be smaller if that voting bloc shows up with the ’60s on their minds.

Pena is working with the Black Veterans Association and Obama’s campaign to help smooth tensions. He said Obama’s recent visit to Española helped, as did his willingness to have many young Hispanic people working on his campaign.

Recent polls in New Mexico lend some credence to Pena’s belief that older Hispanics may be especially resistant to the Democratic nominee. While Obama held a big lead over McCain among Hispanics, according to recent polls from  Public Policy Polling and Survey USA, the two polls also showed that the race tightens significantly when looking at voters 65 and older regardless of race or ethnicity.

Brian Sanderoff of Research and Polling said Thursday that Obama’s lead over McCain in New Mexico was probably closer than the 7 percent margin being publicized. And if what Pena and others are saying is true, Obama will have his work cut out in getting older Hispanics — the best voting group in America belongs to people 65 and older — to vote for him, he said.

While Sanderoff said he couldn’t predict what happens this year, if 2004 is any indication, 73 percent of Hispanics over 65 voted for John Kerry and only 26 percent voted for George W. Bush. Hispanics between the ages of 50-64 also favored Kerry, 68 percent to 32 percent.

“Whether that means that they’re more likely to vote for the Democrat, or they voted for Kerry because he was a veteran, is hard to tell,” he said. “Obviously, if you’re looking at those numbers, one scenario bodes better for McCain, that is if they voted for Kerry because he was the war veteran.”

Sanderoff said he doesn’t have any hard data to substantiate whether older Hispanics would vote along racial lines. He said that if 10 percent of Hispanic voters agreed with C. de Baca’s sentiments and didn’t vote for Obama in this election, it would make a 2 percent net difference in the polls.

“In a close election, that could mean something,” Sanderoff said. “And I think this is a lot closer than some early polling has indicated. Obama knows he has to do better than Kerry did in 2004 with Hispanic voters. His work in Española likely helped him.”

University of New Mexico political science professor Gabriel Sanchez told the BBC last week that he doubts, “there are more than 10 percent of Latinos who think (.C de Baca’s) way — and half of them probably won’t even go out to vote.” 

Santa Fe resident Charles Montano said Hispanics have worked too hard on issues of race for someone like C. de Baca to set them back again.

“It is stupidity to say, much less believe that Hispanics/Latinos don’t vote for qualified, articulate, intelligent individuals regardless of race or gender, or political party for that matter,” Montano said. “It’s equally obscene to believe all Latinos think like Mr. C. de Baca.  Clearly he is a member and a leader of the Republican Party of New Mexico for a reason.  His narrow mindedness on questions of fair treatment and equity for all people regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, handicap or sexual orientation is consistent with the attitude of many from the ultra-conservative wing of the party. But that does not mean his views reflect who Hispanics are as a body. We should all be grateful for that.”

While Montano, Pena and others do not side with C. de Baca, there seems to be some historical context for why he made the remarks.

Pena remembers the Poor People’s March to Washington, D.C., in 1968, though he said he was “too poor” to attend the march. But he knew many people who did make the march and their feeling was that Chicanos were “out in left field” and given the worst accommodations by the organizers of the march. But he said it wasn’t so much that the blacks were responsible for that.

“The newspapers and TV stations were covering Martin Luther King and the Black Movement was bigger and stronger than the Chicano or Native American movements at the time,” he said. “But later, after the march, there was still some feelings by Hispanos that they were being forgotten.”

Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and others were slow to notice Chicano causes, Pena said. When LBJ was elected, there was a huge Hispanic voter turnout in the Southwest and West, he said.

LBJ rewarded blacks by naming them to high posts in the Great Society programs, while Hispanos had to pull teeth to get money for their colleges and programs from the black administrators of these agencies, Pena said.

“I remember this from the difficulties we had when I was working in the administration of Highlands University to get federal funding for the only public university, which at that time, had the only Hispano university president in New Mexico or in the United States,” Pena said. “Highlands, at the time, was the first real Hispano-serving, higher-education institution in the United States.”

Hispanics are getting much attention today, and are being called the “most wanted” swing voters in America. This year’s Hispanic vote appears to be crucial. According to Public Policy Polling, Obama leads McCain 53 percent to 42 percent overall, but leads 59 percent to 35 percent with Hispanics. Among white voters, McCain leads narrowly 49 to 47 percent, something pollsters believe will seal a win for Obama because of the state’s significant Hispanic population. Full results of the poll can be found here:

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_NM_922.pdf