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Hispanics seek McCain's reassurance

Want same protector of their rights

By Stephen Dinan (Contact) | Friday, July 11, 2008

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When Sen. John McCain speaks to the nation's largest Hispanic rights group this weekend, he will face an audience increasingly confused about his immigration position and looking for a declaration that he remains the same champion with whom they have worked for two decades.

"He needs to demonstrate that he still is the John McCain that we think we know," said Cecilia Munoz, a vice president at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), which opens its annual convention Friday in San Diego.

She said the senator from Arizona is well-known and respected for his military service and for his long relationship with Hispanic groups nationally and in his home state, but now is "also working to attract the votes of the side of his party that doesn't like us. ... There's a pretty anti-Latino tone to that conversation, and it's not clear to me how you appeal to that side of the party and to the Latino vote at the same time."

"A grand slam for John McCain at NCLR's conference would be to stand up and say, 'I know there's people saying offensive stuff and I reject it,'" Ms. Munoz said in an interview previewing the convention. "'There's no place for that, in my party or in the political process.'"

The Republican presidential candidate and his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, will both address NCLR. They spoke to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials in June and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) earlier this week.

Ms. Munoz said Mr. Obama's challenge is different from Mr. McCain's: "People don't know him as well as they knew [former presidential rival Sen. Hillary Rodham] Clinton or Senator McCain. I think they need to know his heart and the depth of his commitment on the issues we care about."

Mr. McCain's speech Sunday and Mr. Obama's Monday will show that the candidates recognize the immense political power of Hispanic voters this year. Seeking to capitalize on that potential, NCLR's all-day citizenship drive is Saturday, the first full day of the convention.

The conference also will have a forum on health care, with policy advisers from both the Obama and McCain campaigns, and a workshop connecting homeowners with lenders to help stave off foreclosures.

"The big message is political empowerment," Ms. Munoz said, predicting that Hispanic turnout in the November election would reach a record 10 million and could go as high as 12 million as voters become energized over immigration and other issues. "This is a banner year across the community, in that both candidates are really going to be courting the Latino vote."

NCLR also has intensified efforts to fight what the group's leaders see as an anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic climate, including joining with other advocacy groups to encourage television networks to temper talk-show rhetoric.