McCain, Obama pitch economic plans to Hispanics
By LIZ SIDOTI and CHARLES BABINGTON
Associated Press
July 9, 2008
Page 2 of 2
He also laced his speech with criticism of McCain's economic plans. He also accused the Republican anew of backing off comprehensive immigration reform, saying McCain "abandoned his courageous stance" during the primary season.
"For eight long years, we've had a president who made all kinds of promises to Latinos on the campaign trail, but failed to live up to them in the White House, and we can't afford that anymore," Obama said. "We need a president who isn't going to walk away from something as important as comprehensive reform when it becomes politically unpopular."
Last month, during separate appearances at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference, McCain and Obama pledged to make overhauling the country's immigration policy a priority. McCain assured that audience that he wouldn't pursue the enforcement-only approach sought by hard-line GOP conservatives, while Obama accused McCain of walking away from comprehensive immigration reform.
Both candidates support a temporary worker program and eventual path to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the country illegally. But after a comprehensive Senate bill failed last summer amid coast-to-coast public outcry that split the GOP, McCain has emphasized that the borders must be secure first before people will accept other reforms.
The two are to speak to the National Council of La Raza annual conference in San Diego on Sunday and Monday.
Both are making aggressive plays for this Democratic-leaning group that could tip the balance in battleground states of Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and elsewhere.
Obama was blunt about their importance: "This election could well be decided by Latino voters." He recalled that in the 2004 presidential election 40,000 Latinos registered to vote in New Mexico didn't turn out on Election Day, and Democrat John Kerry lost the state by less than 6,000 votes.
A recent AP-Yahoo News poll showed that Obama leads McCain among Hispanics, 47 percent to 22 percent with 26 percent undecided.
Still, Obama, who would become the first black president if elected, doesn't have a lock on Hispanics. During the Democratic primaries, Hispanics preferred rival Hillary Rodham Clinton to Obama by nearly 2-to-1.
McCain senses an opportunity based on his links to the West and Republican inroads four years ago.
President Bush captured about 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004, to Kerry's 58 percent, down from the 62 percent former Vice President Al Gore got in 2000. Still, in the 2006 congressional elections, Democrats scored their biggest win among Hispanics since 1996
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