Hispanics embrace Obama’s $20 million outreach

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) on Tuesday praised an effort by Barack Obama’s campaign to use $20 million to “engage and inspire” Latino voters ahead of the election.

Calling the $20 million sum “unprecedented,” the CHC members, many of whom supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign, said the effort to target Latino voters in Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico is both a recognition that Hispanics will be a critical voting bloc in the general election and that Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) must not take these voters for granted.

{mosads}The $20 million will go toward voter mobilization, paid advertising in Spanish-language media, the use of surrogates and paid staff, according to the Democratic National Committee and Obama campaign spokesmen.

The campaign said the funds will reach all 50 states, but will target the four where they believe there is the best chance of reaching the largest number of Latinos and where the popular vote is expected to be close.

But for CHC members whose communities had strongly backed Clinton, the effort is much more.

“It’s an understanding that this is a way to accomplish what you’re looking to accomplish,” Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) said of the effort and money being put forward by the Obama campaign to ensure that Latino voters will embrace Obama as enthusiastically as they had Clinton.

Serrano and Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) — who was an ardent supporter of Clinton — predicted that the combination of Obama’s overall message of change and funding for outreach will have the desired effect.

“That love that the Latino community had for Hillary and has for Hillary is also a love for true change in America,” Serrano said. “On Nov. 4, New York will become Obama country.”

Solis said she will campaign for Obama in Colorado in addition to her home state.

And she suggested that any disconnect between Obama and the Latino communities and their representatives was rapidly disappearing.

“We get that we have to win the White House,” Solis said.

In past weeks, many members of the CHC who had backed Clinton had said that their communities could be swayed to support Obama, but that it would not happen automatically.

Asked who came up with the idea for a $20 million outreach effort, Serrano said it was a joint decision.

“When you’re discussing this on a daily basis, you just put two and two together,” Serrano said.