Bloomberg News

Obama Hits Road for Appeal to Hispanics, Students Ahead of Vote

By Hans Nichols

September 28, 2010

President Barack Obama opens a four-state trip today with events that will draw in two groups, Hispanics and college students, the administration is counting on to help defend Democratic congressional seats in November.

The president will be talking about the economy and education in New Mexico, where two freshmen House Democrats are vying to retain seats they won two years ago on the coattails of Obama’s win in the 2008 presidential election.

Reigniting the enthusiasm of New Mexico’s Hispanics, about 45 percent of the state’s population, won’t be an easy task.

“We’re disheartened and disappointed,” said Veronica Mendez-Cruz, an Obama supporter who is director of the advocacy group El Centro de la Raza at the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque.

The reason is the administration’s failure to achieve an overhaul of immigration laws, she said. “It seems like all these other priorities have pushed immigration reform to the back seat for the White House,” she said.

After a backyard discussion about the economy in Albuquerque, Obama flies to a campaign-style rally at the University of Wisconsin in Madison that will be simulcast to other campuses, in a bid to boost turnout among young voters who helped propel his presidential campaign. Tomorrow, he’ll have backyard economy events in Iowa and Virginia.

New Mexico has been a battleground for Democrats and Republicans in state and national elections. Obama captured New Mexico’s five electoral votes two years ago, beating Republican John McCain by 57 to 42 percent. Four years earlier, George W. Bush edged Democratic Senator John Kerry by 50-49 percent.

Energizing Voters

The proportion of Hispanics is larger than the state average in the U.S. House districts of New Mexico Democratic Representatives Martin Heinrich and Harry Teague, both of whom were elected in 2008 to seats previously held by Republicans.

“If Hispanics aren’t energized to go out and vote, we have a terrible year in New Mexico, top to bottom,” said Moses Mercado, who ran Kerry’s presidential campaign in New Mexico in 2004.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is targeting Heinrich, who is being challenged by former state Republican Vice Chairman Jon Barela in the state’s 1st District, which includes Albuquerque. The committee recently bought television air time for Barela.

In the 2nd District, which covers much of the southern portion of the state, Teague is being challenged by former Representative Steve Pearce, the district’s former congressman who gave up the seat to mount an unsuccessful Senate campaign in 2008.

Presidential Help

“Both Teague and Heinrich have very strong Hispanic support because of their hard work with the community,” Mercado said. “But they need a very energized Hispanic vote; this is where the president can help.”

Obama, 49, has expressed his own frustration with the immigration issue and has promised he wouldn’t “walk away” from overhauling immigration laws.

“I know that many of you campaigned hard for me, and understandably you’re frustrated we haven’t been able to move this over the finish line,” Obama told the Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual awards dinner in Washington on Sept. 15. “But let me be clear: I will not walk away from this fight.”

Tonight’s event in Madison will be the first of four such rallies seeking to get young voters to the polls for the November elections. Obama targeted college students in his presidential campaign.

Campus Campaign

“The reason we’re going to Madison is because I want to send a message to young people across the country about how important this election is,” Obama told college journalists on a conference call yesterday. “You can’t sit it out, you can’t just suddenly check in once every 10 years or so on an exciting presidential election.”

While the administration bills the trip as a series of events to talk about policy rather than a campaign trip, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said Obama will be taking aim at Republicans in all four states. He’ll be keying in on Republicans’ “Pledge to America,” the plan that party leaders released as a campaign theme for November.

Obama plans to “highlight specific areas of that pledge” and argue that following the plan “would be irresponsible and be a mistake,” Pfeiffer told reporters yesterday.

The stakes are high for Obama and the Democrats. Republicans need a net gain of 39 seats to gain a majority in the 435-member House of Representatives. The non-partisan Cook Political Report in Washington forecasts Republicans will gain at least 40 seats after November’s election. In the Senate, where Republicans hold 41 of 100 seats, the Cook report says they are poised to pick up from seven to nine seats.