I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
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Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign announced Tuesday that they will spend $20 million to on outreach to Hispanic voters. During a conference call with reporters, Obama for America National Hispanic Leadership Council Chairman Frank Sanchez and DNCVice-Chair Linda Chavez Thompson described a huge grassroots effort that will mirror Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy, but focus resources on what they called "critical" states such as New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Florida.
The Democrats are calling the $20 million commitment an "unprecedented" amount, citing figures from Johns Hopkins University Hispanic Voter Project, showing that in the 2004 election, Bush and Kerry combined only spent $8.7 million courting Latino voters.
"Obama is telling us he wants us to be a part of this campaign and he’s giving us the resources to do it," Thompson said.
Although he declined to give any specifics on how much money or how much staff would be allocated to any one state, Sanchez said the Democrats would invest in community outreach, paid advertising, online advertising, voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives. He also indicated that party and campaign leadership would involve Hispanics at every level.
In New Mexico, Democratic Party Press Secretary Conchita Cruz pointed out that the Albuquerque party office in the South Valley will be made up of mostly Hispanic staff.
Responding to questions about whether they would target outreach to specific groups, such as Cubans in South Florida or Puerto Ricans in Ohio, Sanchez said he recognizes that the Latino community is diverse and that "Camp Obama" trainings in battleground states would allow organizers identify the specific cultural makeup of the Hispanic community in each area.
But, Sanchez noted, "There are some issues that cut across those lines." As recent polls have pointed out, pocketbook issues are what Hispanics say is most important to them. "Everyone’s concerned about the economy, access to affordable health care, education, and for many, the immigration issue."
The money and manpower being devoted to Hispanics in this election cycle can be attributed to several things, including a rapidly increasing numbers of Latinos who are registered to vote, say they’re following this election closely and intend to vote in November. But it is also indicative of Barack Obama’s background as a community organizer.
"One of the hallmarks of this campaign has been our grassroots organizing," Sanchez said. "Camp Obama represents a very strong commitment on the part of our team to mobilize thousands of people who will go into their communities, who will get people registered, and then get them to the polls."
Although national organizers declined to say specifically which states would host Camp Obama trainings, Cruz said she believed New Mexico would be one of the states in which the campaign and DNC would invest the most.
Some of the Democrats’ Latino war chest would be spent on local advertising in Spanish-language media. "We have, at the DNC, a large number of Latino newspapers with which we’ve developed a community," she said. "So we might not have the money to advertise in [bigger papers], but we might buy ads in smaller papers, Spanish language papers that people in the community actually read."
"$20 million, if well spent, goes a long way," Sanchez said. "if these resources are used wisely and carefully, they will have tremendous impact."
In addition to the amount of money being spent and staff being deployed, the Democrats say they’ve never started organizing this early in an election cycle.
Responding to a question about voter disenfranchisement (from Markos Moulitsas ofDailyKos), Luis Miranda of the DNC said that there would also be a focus on voter protection and education. "Especially when it comes to first-time Latino voters," Sanchez added, "we want to make sure they’re informed about their rights."
Citing recent polls that show Obama 30 to 40 points ahead of McCain among Hispanic voters, blogger Markos Moulitsas, better known as Kos on his site DailyKos, asked how the campaign would measure the success of its Latino outreach efforts. Was there a particular percentage or number they were shooting for? "All we have to do is get enough Latino voters to be successful in November," Sanchez said.
This story has been updated. An earlier version quoted DPNM press secretary Conchita Cruz as saying the South Valley campaign office would be 90 percent Hispanic, but DPNM now says it can’t be sure of maintaining that figure.
