Kennedy’s endorsement could win over Hispanics

Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) name is gold in the Latino community, and his endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was timed Monday to bridge the widest racial divide working against Obama’s presidential ambitions.

But with time running short before many of the most heavily Latino states vote, it could be too little, too late.

{mosads}The Kennedy family’s historical affinity with Latinos, along with Kennedy’s work last year to pass an immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, makes his backing one of the most important to many Latinos.

Kennedy will have to win Obama converts almost instantly, however, because eight of the 10 states with the most Latinos are voting in the next week.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) won about two-thirds of the Latino vote in the Nevada caucus, and polls indicate that margin could be repeated in states like California, where Clinton holds a 3-to-1 advantage and where many more delegates will be handed out.

Obama took only about a quarter of the Latino vote in Nevada despite his endorsement from the influential culinary workers union. Latinos make up 40 percent of the union’s 60,000-person membership.

“Latinos clearly know Sen. Clinton better than they know Sen. Obama in states other than Illinois. The question is really whether or not there’s enough time in states like California for Sen. Obama to turn that around,” said Cecilia Munoz, a senior vice president at the National Council of La Raza.

In his endorsement speech Monday, held at American University, Kennedy praised Obama’s work on the immigration bill. Kennedy is set to swing through crucial states with large Latino populations on Obama’s behalf.{mospagebreak}

“There is the tireless skill of a senator who was there in the early mornings to help us hammer out a needed compromise on immigration reform, who always saw a way to protect both national security and the dignity of people who do not have a vote,” Kennedy said of Obama. “For them, he was a voice for justice.”

Some political analysts say that Latinos are predisposed to oppose black candidates due to the competition between the two communities in recent decades.

{mosads}Kennedy’s endorsement will likely not be enough to help Obama clear that hurdle, said Earl Hutchinson, an expert on race and elections who is publishing a book on the effect of race on presidential politics.

“He’s still relatively unknown to Latino voters,” Hutchinson said. “When you layer that over with the problems in a lot of different areas between blacks and Latinos, there is a very, very real problem on the part of a significant number of Latinos in terms of supporting an African-American candidate.”

Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, said the endorsement was likely to have an impact with older Latino voters who recall President John F. Kennedy’s time in the White House, but much of the community does not fit that profile.

“There are many Latinos who have come to this country or been born who didn’t have that experience of the John Kennedy legacy,” Vargas said. “For younger generations, I don’t think they really have that connection.”

Obama has been attempting to make inroads with the Latino vote in recent days and weeks, announcing the support of several influential Latino leaders and launching Spanish-language ads. The endorsements include that of Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), a member of the House Democratic leadership, who joined Obama on Sunday.

The Obama campaign continues to use the issue of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, which Clinton opposes and he supports, as a wedge to pull more Latinos to its side.

Obama also carved out part of his victory speech in South Carolina on Saturday to speak to the issue.

“The assumption that … blacks and Latinos cannot come together — we are here tonight to say that that is not the America that we believe in,” Obama said.

Among the states holding contests on Feb. 5 are California, Arizona and New Mexico, all of which are more than 25 percent Latino. Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey and New York will also bring large Latino contingents to the ballot box.

Florida, which counted nearly 3 million Latinos in the 2000 census, will hold its primary Tuesday, but the Democratic candidates have agreed not to campaign there after the state broke Democratic National Committee rules by holding its primary before Feb. 5.