Throughout the Democratic primary campaign, Hillary Clinton bested Senator Obama among women, latinos, and middle and lower income white voters. With Clinton out of the way, you would think that the push was on to shore up support among those groups. At least when it comes to women and latinos, it seems that you would be wrong:
It is not unusual for members of Congress to feel taken for granted by a president of their own party or a White House hopeful. But Obama has a tough task ahead in courting Clinton's strongest constituencies, including Hispanics, women and working-class white voters.
In particular, the Illinois senator, who got swamped in most heavily Hispanic districts across the country, can ill afford to risk alienating potential surrogates in a community that has viewed him with skepticism.
Napolitano, who describes herself as a "dyed in the wool" Democrat, said she will vote for and support the Democratic nominee in the fall. But she has not seen the type of commitment to Latino issues from Obama that she says she saw in Clinton.
"Unless I see something inherently helpful to our community, I'm going to sit back and see what happens," Napolitano said. Napolitano and some of her Hispanic colleagues are informally boycotting Obama campaign events aimed at reaching out to Clinton supporters because the candidate himself has not asked for their help.
Another lawmaker said anger over Obama's inattentiveness extends to women who are not Hispanic and even to Obama backers in the CHC who feel that they have been ignored by the campaign.
"It's about respect," that House member said. "I don't understand why third parties have to be intermediaries."
Capitol Hill is full of primadonnas who overestimate their importance and resent being overlooked. That said, some of them carry disproportionate weight. And right now at least, Hillary backers, latinos, and women are at the top of the list. It represents a miscalculation on Obama's part to let this get to the point where he is being criticized in the press for ignoring them.
Polling over the next few months will help identify which of Hillary's constituencies Senator McCain might have a chance at co-opting in the general election. Any opportunity would be considered as he develops themes, selects his vice president, etc. This suggests that women and latinos may join conservative Democrats in being up for grabs. And lest anyone assume that latinos will ultimately fall into line, remember that for Hispanic Americans, John McCain is a different kind of Republican.
