Who Answers the Phone at 3:00 a.m.?

Fidel "Butch" Montoya

The hour of defeat that Hillary Clinton fought so hard against to acknowledge is finally here. Hillary will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank her supporters and pledge her support to Obama.

In a letter to supporters, Hillary says, “I made you, and everyone who supported me, a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never look back. I’m going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.”

As difficult as is to finally concede the race, there is no getting around the fact that Senator Obama reached the magic number of delegates he needed to make him the prospective nominee for the Democratic Party.

For Obama, who has risen to power in meteoric fashion, faces his first major challenge. He must try to convince Hillary supporters he is the best candidate.

Odd when you compare resumes, there simply was no contest. Hillary has worked her whole life for this moment, and in short fashion, it has been taken away by someone whose resume is still questionable.

In terms of experience, the questions will remain during the election season, but finally we will have the answer to the question, who best can respond to that 3:00 a.m. telephone call? McCain or Obama?

Yet in the middle of all of the new challenges now facing the Obama campaign is the fact that many Latino Hillary supporters have vowed not to support Obama.

Among 18 million Americans who voted for Hillary during the primaries, was the fact that the Latino vote gave Hillary the margin of victory in states like New Mexico, Texas, California and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

While obviously some Latinos will support Obama, there is still no indication where the majority of the Latino vote will go. The Latino vote was there for Hillary when her campaign needed their votes.

In her letter to supporters, Hillary also wrote that “together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.” So will Latinos follow Hillary's advise and vote Obama or will McCain benefit from the Latino vote?

Yet, the Obama candidacy so far hasn’t been able to create much excitement in the Latino community. The crowds have come out to hear the candidate, but thus far the Latino vote was squarely in Hillary's corner.

I am not sure that Obama has made any noteworthy effort to reach out for this group of voters. If he has any plans to do so, now would be the right time to show that he intends to fight for the Latino vote.

At this point while Hillary makes her pledge to support Obama, it will interesting to see if her political decision affects the Latino voter one way or the other.

Will the Latino community listen how Obama intends to reach out on policy issues and other campaign issues important to this voting group or will they turn to help McCain, the champion of comprehensive immigration reform?

No question, the Latino vote remains a significant factor in the upcoming election season as McCain and Obama begin to fight for the right to be President.

Hillary will try to make the case for her supporters to work for Obama, “My differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans.”

Yet 16 months is a long time to bash Obama and in one day try to convince her supporters that he is better than McCain. There will need to be efforts by Obama to ensure his Cabinet for one thing is reflective of our county.

Hillary’s prominence as a national political friend to the Latino community, with her defeat, it will be viewed as a great loss to the Latino community.

If the Democrat leadership expects the Latino community who supported Hillary to just drop their Hillary for President signs, shows they have not learned the lessons of this year’s primary.

Can McCain convince the Latino voter to support his Republican ticket? While other GOP candidates have squandered their chances of getting the Latino vote back, McCain is about the only one who could repeat as Bush did in bringing back 35% or more Latino voters. That could be the winning margin…again.

Let’s hope the Obama top advisors don’t believe the Latino vote will be there for the taking. For one thing, the Latino community will not just give its vote away again now or in the future.

It is time for Obama to show us that he intends to fight for the Latino vote, understanding that the margin of victory still may be in the hands of the Latino community.

Fidel "Butch" Montoya
H. S. Power & Light - Latino Faith Based Initiative