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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Obama picks Latino advisors
Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign, which is spending $20 million to reach Latino voters, announced this week the creation of a National Latino Advisory Council.
Another member of the council is Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat who authored an immigration bill that would have given illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
Gutierrez is known as a champion of immigrant rights.
The council also includes some high profile members of labor unions including Geoconda Arguello-Kline, president of the Nevada Culinary Workers Union and Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union.
In a press release, the Obama campaign said that the council is “made up of key labor, faith, community leaders, and elected officials from across the country and will serve as an advisory council for the campaign on issues important to the Latino community.”
The Obama campaign is targeting Hispanic voters in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida with advertising, online organizing, voter registration drives, get-out-the-vote efforts and the training of some 500 grass-roots organizers.
Political analysts say that Latinos could be a crucial voting bloc in several contested states.
