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Este informe no está disponible en español. THE MIAMI HERALDHispanic Vote Gets CourtedTop Posts In Parties Elude Most Latinosby Ana RadelatJune 11, 2000 WASHINGTON -- Even as the nation's major political parties and presidential candidates put out welcome mats for Latinos this year, there's a debate about how much clout Hispanics have in the race to the White House. While this year's political fashion is to appear simpático to Latino voters, Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, said Hispanics seem to be largely excluded from key roles, with some notable exceptions. ``Some have access when they need it and are regularly consulted in the decision-making process of both campaigns, but it is still very true that there is a small cabal of non-Latino leaders making the lion's share of decisions on both sides,'' Gonzalez said. Even so, there are positive signs. In an effort to reach out to Latino voters who may turn out in record numbers at the polls this year, both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee have increased the number of staffers who can habla español. Hialeah native Ana Gamoral, who works as the director of Hispanic affairs at the Republican committee, said the GOP is working on a Web site in Spanish and plans to spend $10 million between now and the November election on an advertising campaign targeting Hispanic voters. ``The winds have definitely changed,'' she said. To be able to succeed, Gamoral said, the party is doing all it can to ``eliminate the static'' left by a GOP-led campaign to restrict immigration and strip immigrants of government services. Republicans in Congress led the effort to tighten immigration laws in 1996, at the same time that former GOP Gov. Pete Wilson headed a campaign in California to pass a law that would deny immigrants social services and their children a public education. The efforts alienated many Latinos, even those with long roots in this country. The Democrats are also revamping their efforts to woo Hispanic voters and remind others of the party's inclusiveness. This summer, for the first time, a Hispanic will run a major political convention. Lydia Camarillo, a 42-year-old Mexican American from El Paso, Texas, and outsider to Democratic politics, was the surprise choice to run the party's convention in Los Angeles this August. Camarillo's selection is attributed to her strong links to the nation's Hispanic community, particularly Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, a prominent Mexican American and close friend of Vice President Al Gore. ``It's an opportunity to create history,'' she enthused about her new high-profile job. Of greater significance to the nation's Hispanic community is that Latinos are finally players in the presidential contests. They are working -- as paid staffers and consultants, volunteers, fund-raisers and informal advisers for the campaigns of both George W. Bush and Gore. As the nation's fastest-growing ethnic group, Latinos are eager for greater influence in the political arena -- especially, Camarillo said, after the anti-immigration initiatives of a few years ago, which made many Hispanics feel vulnerable. ``It wasn't enough to work hard and pay taxes. . . . Hispanics realized that they had to become more involved politically,'' she said. Camarillo has a long history of Hispanic activism and was involved in a voter registration and get-out-the-vote effort that resulted in 1.4 million new Hispanic voters being registered in 1996 -- and a turnout of five million Latinos for the election. Most Latino voters cast their ballots for Democrats that year, giving President Clinton an edge in several states and helping him win reelection. SIX MILLION VOTES This year, six million Latinos are expected to go to the polls. Most of them live in states with high electoral votes, such as California, Florida, Texas, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. While California's Latinos are leaning toward Gore and Florida's Hispanic voters seem to prefer Texas Gov. Bush, according to recent polls, the Hispanic vote is up for grabs in other states. Lisa Navarrete, spokeswoman for the National Council of La Raza, said the new emphasis by both campaigns on the Hispanic community and the inclusion of more Latinos in high-level political campaigns have given her ``comfort and hope.'' But she is not convinced that Hispanics are part of the inner circle of advisers who consult with Gore and Bush on a day-to-day basis. ``It's mostly non-Latinos making the decisions,'' she said. Bush's closest circle of advisers includes a number of associates from Texas, such as Don Evans, his best friend and fellow oilman from Midland, who ran a record $80 million fund-raising campaign earlier this year. Others are Karl Rove, his political director, and Michigan Gov. John Engler, a Republican who was instrumental in getting Bush to run for president. Gore's circle includes Tony Coelho, a former Democratic congressman from California who is now his campaign chairman, and Carter Eskew, a seasoned Washington campaign media strategist. Others tend to be longtime Democratic Party activists or Washington political figures. WIELDING INFLUENCE Nevertheless, Navarrete is encouraged by the fact that both Gore and Bush have personal relationships with a number of Hispanics who have influence with the candidates. ``I think you have some people in positions close to the candidate who were never there before,'' she said. Bush has a ``Latino kitchen cabinet'' of extremely prominent Hispanics, mostly from Texas, who serve as unofficial consultants to his campaign, Navarrete said. The ``kitchen cabinet'' includes Texas businessmen Tony Sanchez, Massey Villarreal and Raul Romero, as well as Texas Supreme Court Justice Al Gonzalez and Texas Railroad Commissioner Tony Garza, Bush's first appointee as governor. Sanchez is a prominent oil and gas executive and banker from Laredo, a Texas border town; Villarreal is head of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, and Romero owns a Houston engineering company. Bush is also close to Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, and has named the lawmaker -- one of the few Hispanic Republicans in Congress -- a co-chairman of his campaign. AD SPECIALIST But it's Lionel Sosa, a Mexican-American political consultant and advertising guru from San Antonio, who has more impact on the daily decisions of the Bush campaign. Sosa, 60, created television and radio ads that struck a chord among Latino voters during Bush's two bids for governor and is now trying to do the same for Bush's campaign for the White House. His ads showed an understanding of Latino culture and were among the first to incorporate the use of Spanish, including one that showed Bush speaking a few words of the language. Many of the Hispanics with the strongest ties to Gore have worked in the Clinton administration, including Richardson, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros and Janet Murguia, a Mexican American from Kansas City who worked as deputy director of congressional affairs at the White House before joining Gore's campaign as deputy campaign manager. Other key Hispanic Gore loyalists include Californians Cruz Bustamante, the state's lieutenant governor, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina. Jose Villarreal, 47, a San Antonio lawyer who serves as Gore's national campaign treasurer, said a rise in the number of Hispanic elected officials and ``a larger and more seasoned group'' of Latino political advisers have provided both the Bush and Gore camps with a pool of people who can teach them how to connect with the nation's Hispanics. ``And that's smart politics for both parties,'' he said.
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