The western front

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Sep 22nd 2008
From Economist.com

Barack Obama shores up the Hispanic base


ON A hot, blustery day in Española, New Mexico, Joe Montoya kicks up some wind of his own. “George Bush torched this country,” the retired accountant exclaims. He doesn’t seem too excited about John McCain, either.

Still, he says he needed to come see Barack Obama in order to be sure about the Democrat. There used to be a lot of tension between blacks and Hispanics, he explains, as the two groups competed for the jobs “they” (he doesn’t say who “they” are) “would give us”. But after a rousing speech from Mr Obama, Mr Montoya is convinced. “It’s like watching your kids running for high office”, he says, trying to explain why Mr Obama strikes him as different from other “black politicians from Washington” he has known. Just the sort of reaction Mr Obama is hoping for here.

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Española is a small town surrounded by Native American pueblos in Rio Arriba county north of Santa Fe. Overwhelmingly Latino, it’s also a Democratic stronghold—“a machine-politics county”, Mr Montoya explains. On stage before Mr Obama, Bill Richardson, New Mexico’s governor and a one-time presidential candidate, jokes that Rio Arriba’s votes tend to come in “a little late” on election night, but when they do, Democrats win.

Still, Mr Obama’s day didn’t start as well as it ended. Metal detectors at the entrances to central Española’s plaza switch on at 10:30 am. Lots of spectators in this rural town have to surrender their long pocketknives; by noon the Secret Service had collected piles of them.

Once inside the secure zone, local politicians try to entertain the huge crowd, but by early afternoon patience is waning. One woman insists that the elderly are beginning to faint in the heat. When Mr Richardson asks the audience if it is ready for Barack Obama, Jim McCullaugh, a retired school superintendent in the back of the crowd, replies, “I’ve been ready!”

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Taking the stage at 2:00 pm, Mr Obama explains that he had been meeting with tribal leaders earlier in the day, and that his bus driver “must have been taking in the scenery” on the way over. The audience seems placated, but he really doesn’t get the crowd going until he starts talking economics. “You’ve been hurting a lot longer than Wall Street”, he says as some in the audience scream “yeah!” John McCain, meanwhile, “doesn’t know if he’s Barry Goldwater or Dennis Kucinich”, Mr Obama jokes, criticising Mr McCain for taking contradictory stands on government bailouts and new regulations for the financial industry.

Mr Obama is aggressive, reflecting the high temperature of the race lately. “You can't erase twenty-six years of support for the very policies and people who helped bring on this disaster with one week of rants,” Mr Obama bellows. Odd, since the Obama campaign has also criticised Mr McCain for not paying much attention to the economy. But the crowd loves it, yelling back encouragement the whole time—it’s a lot more raucous than the average McCain rally. “In 47 days, you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other-way crowd in Washington who have led us down this disastrous path.” A big cheer.

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This morning’s long wait is a distant memory. “We’ve been waiting for Obama for 50 years,” says Bob Wheat, a retired computer specialist from nearby Los Alamos. Mr Wheat admits he hasn’t voted for 40 years, but he thinks Mr Obama believes what he says. He also likes talk of more state oversight of business. “If you’re gonna help ’em, regulate ’em”, he says. Capitalism, he insists, can be just as ghastly as fascism or communism.

As Mr Obama ends his speech, he zeroes in on the group he’s here to court. “I’m not taking a single Hispanic vote for granted in this campaign”, he says, because Hispanic voters will be “critical” across the West. “Don’t stay home”, he commands. Mr Montoya isn’t planning to. But he’s seen the Democratic nominee in person, and plenty of Hispanic voters haven’t.

GUOZHENG

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