- Rudy Giuliani wrote an op-ed on how to fix America's immigration problems in South Carolina's Greenville News.
- Governor Bill Richardson explains how he will prove to the Latino community that he is the candidate of their choice.
- Tom Tancredo will be on O'Reilly tonight with guest Michelle Malkin. Topic of conversation? Sanctuary cities, immigration, etc.
- Be sure to look at Hillary Clinton's plan to improve the quality of health care for all Americans.
- Joe Biden, who is the subject of a nice op-ed from Niall Stanage in the Valley Advocate, weighed in on whether replacing Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki is the right thing to do.
- John McCain issued a press release challenging Senator Clinton's change in position on whether the surge in Iraq is working.
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
VoteVets launched a new ad campaign that will target ten Members of Congress who are still "clinging to the failed Bush policy." The video below is the first in the series and targets Senator Susan Collins, asking her to put country above politics.
The VoteVets video is the counter to an ad campaign by Freedoms Watch, a White House Front Group whose founding members include the likes of Ari Fleischer, former White House Press Secretary. (More from The Politico) Their ad, "Veteran", is below:
Here's a quick roundup of the press NDN has received recently, starting with a few mentions around the YearlyKos Convention:
- Simon is quoted in the LA Times discussing the opportunity facing Democrats to create a lasting majority.
- Joe Garcia, Director of NDN's Hispanic Strategy Center, was quoted in the Washington Post blog, The Trail, discussing the level of diversity in the progressive blogosphere. Joe's quote was also featured on Daily Kos.
- Simon is quoted in the Washington Postcitingthe appearance of the major presidential candidates as evidence that the blogosphere is a significant player in politics.
- Simon was interviewed by The Hillon the evolution of the Democrats' approach to Cuba policy.
- While praising Gov. Howard Dean's efforts to make the Democratic Party competitive heading into 2008, Simon is quoted in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review saying that Dean will mainly be judged on whether his work helps deliver a Democrat to the White House.
One topic that hasn't been emphasized too much during the 2008 presidential campaign is the strategic outreach of candidates to court the Hispanic vote. While there has been some mention of this, the coverage of their outreach has been limited particularly to candidate participation in the NCLR Annual Conference, the NALEO Candidate Forum, and the upcoming Univision Candidate Forum at the University of Miami. (NOTE: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama also received coverage for using firms that specialize in Spanish-language communication and polling.)
From campaign staff/endorsements to meetings with prominent Hispanics across the country, candidates are doing quite a bit to go after the Hispanic vote. Some of it is noted in the media, some isn't. So below I take a quick look at some of the major efforts of campaigns to reach out to the fastest growing demographic in the nation. I'll be adding to this as I can, realizing that I haven't touched on the efforts of all of the candidates.
Hillary Clinton - In a recent Bloomberg article, it was made clear that Clinton has made efforts to reach out to the Hispanic community to offset gains made by Barack Obama in the African American community. With endorsements from prominent leaders like Raul Yzaguirre, former president of NCLR, Fabian Nuñez, Speaker of the CA Assembly, Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union, Adolfo Carrión, Jr., Bronx Borough President, and Senator Robert Menendez, Clinton sure boasts a lot of support from Hispanic leaders across the country. Let us also not forget that Clinton's Chief of Staff, Patti Solis Doyle, is the first Latina to run a presidential campaign.
Barack Obama - While Obama doesn't have the vast array of endorsements as Clinton, he has had two incredibly important meetings with two people who could really encourage support for him. Eddie Sotelo and Renán Almendárez Coello - better known as "Piolín" and "El Cucuy" - are two radio DJs credited with driving turnout for the massive immigration marches that occurred in May, 2006.
Listen to Obama's interview with "El Cucuy" (NOTE: the interview is in Spanish with a translator) Pictures of Obama's meeting with "Piolín" are below:
Bill Richardson - Richardson, who was born in Pasadena, CA to an American father and Mexican mother is the only Hispanic-American in the Democratic field. He grew up in Mexico City and is the Governor of a border state. The man behind his ads is Lionel Sosa who is no stranger to presidential elections. Most recently, Sosa helped deliver 40% of the Hispanic vote to George Bush in 2004. Richardson, who also announced his candidacy in Spanish, also highlights the support he has from Latinos in various YouTube videos.
Listen to Richardson's interview with "El Cucuy" (NOTE: the interview is entirely in Spanish)
UPDATE: Richardson is announced the creation of a grassroots campaign to focus on reaching out to Latinos in the video below:
Chris Dodd - As the recipient of one of NCLR's Capital Awards, Dodd is no stranger to the Hispanic community. And, as the video below shows, Dodd is the other bilingual candidate in the field, having learned to speak Spanish during his time in the Peace Corps:
Joe Biden - Biden's campaign manager, Luis Navarro, is Hispanic.
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
- Time graded the Democratic candidates' performances during this past Sunday's debate.
- AdAge takes a look at advertising money, noting that total spending through August 6th has reached $7.9 million.
- YouTube has a sampling of questions users submitted for the Republican CNN-YouTube debate (via PrezVid).
- Barack Obama expanded his foreign policy platform after he called for an ease in travel restrictions to Cuba, promising to "grant Cuban Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send remittances to the island." Obama explained his view in this op-ed in the Miami Herald, a position he's set to discuss further Saturday in Little Havana. NOTE: Obama's stance echoes NDN's position, which was most recently expressed by NDN President Simon Rosenberg in an interview with The Hill. For more background, check out video from our February forum, After Fidel.
- Adam Nagourney from the NY Times highlights Rudy Giuliani's campaign style in rural areas, showing how the Former NYC Mayor has to stretch to find common ground.
- Governor Bill Richardson expanded his campaign to Nevada after John Edwards shifted his staff from the Silver State to Iowa and New Hampshire.
- Fred Thompson is facing an FEC complaint from blogger Lane Hudson, who says Thompson has raised far more money than he needs to explore whether to run for president. Thompson, whose latest fundraising numbers fell short of projections, has long said he was raising the funds needed to "test the waters."
- The NYT takes a look at speeches delivered yesterday by both John McCain and Hillary Clinton at the 108th National Convention Of The Veterans Of Foreign Wars. Fred Thompson and Barack Obama address the Convention today.
- I have to highlight this article from Sunday's Boston Globe, which wonders if Mitt Romney has "stepped out of a time machine from 1950s suburban America, golly-ing and gosh-ing his way across the nation."
- Chris Dodd met with Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today to discuss an issue that was touched upon in Sunday's debates: the mortgage market. Check out this YouTube video of Senator Dodd discussing the issue.
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
- John Edwards' ties to Fortress Investment Group LLC are coming back to haunt him in a new way. This time, the WSJ points out that Fortress filed foreclosure suits with 34 homes in New Orleans. (Edwards, who makes New Orleans a focal point of his campaign, has attacked lenders who have filed foreclosure suits against those affected by Hurricane Katrina.)
- Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani went at it this week on immigration. The back and forth prompted Giuliani to release ads in South Carolina to clarify his record. Meanwhile John McCain is sticking to his position that comprehensive immigration reform is necessary, regardless of of the threats he's received. (As background, PrezVid has a nice YouTube history of Giuliani's stance on immigration.) New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also added his opinion.
- Chris Dodd is calling for an import ban on chinese food and toys.
- Fred Thompson plans on using the Iowa State Fair to raise his profile in the Hawkeye State.
- Chris Cillizza has a great post on the need for Mike Huckabee's campaign to capitalize on its second place finish in the Ames Straw Poll.
- As a father whose son is headed to Iraq, Joe Biden discusses ending the war responsibly in the video below. Biden says, "There is no political point worth my son's life. There is no political point worth anybody's life."
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
- Joe Garcia, NDN's Hispanic Strategy Center Director, was featured in The Hill discussing how the Democratic-led Congress is approaching US policy towards Cuba.
- Simon is quoted in the Financial Times discussing how the Democratic candidates are beginning to discuss the issue of globalization more directly. As he says:
“There is a legitimate conversation to be had about globalisation,” he said. “But it is not a xenophobic one. If you want to find xenophobia on the campaign trail that can be found among the Republican candidates when they talk about illegal immigration.”
- Simon is quoted in Bloomberg on Hillary Clinton's strategic move to court the Hispanic vote.
Remember when we said that Rudy Giuliani probably wishes things like YouTube didn't exist? Well, Adam Howard over at AlterNet gives us further proof that Rudy Giuliani's defeat may be delivered to him on a viral video silver platter. This latest video features the Former Mayor using animals to describe his position on welfare. Truly no words can describe it.
UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has part of the video on YouTube. Watch it below:
More Rudy News: A stark contrast to his position in the video we reference above, Giuliani promises that he can stop illegal immigration in this AP story. Obviously he hasn't read his Miami Herald, because if he had he would know that Hispanic voters in South Florida who were once solidly in the GOP's camp are becoming unaffiliated.
Just a reminder to tune into "This Weekwith George Stephanopoulos"on Sunday to watch the Republican Presidential hopefuls debate for 90 minutes in Iowa.
Check your local listing to find out when "This Week" will air.
NDN is off to YearlyKos! If you find yourself in Chicago, come swing by the panels we're leading and participating in. Our schedule is below:
Friday, August 3rd
09:15 AM
The Political Impact of Web Video Through 2008 Peter Leyden, Director of the New Politics Institute and Dan Manatt, Founder of Politics TV Location: McCormick Place Convention Center: Room 106 A & B
02:30 PM
Dawn of a New Politics Presentationat YearlyKos Simon Rosenberg, President of NDN and Founder of NPI, and Peter Leyden, Director of the New Politics Institute Location: McCormick Place Convention Center Room: 101 B
04:00 PM
Modern Campaigns Moderated by Simon Rosenberg, President of NDN and Founder of NPI. Also participating will be Democratic campaign strategists Joe Trippi, Jerome Armstrong, and Stephanie Cutter. Location: McCormick Place Convention Center Room: 403 A & B
Saturday, August 4th
09:15 AM
Immigration and Hispanics: The Policy and the Politics Moderated by Joe Garcia, Director of NDN’s Hispanic Strategy Center. Also participating will be Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President of SEIU, Cecilia Muñoz, Senior Vice President in the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation of NCLR, and Congressman Luis Gutierrez (congressional schedule permitting). Location: McCormick Place Convention Center: Room 404 A-C
10:30 AM
The Middle Class: The Problems it Faces and Progressive Solutions Participating will be Dr. Robert J. Shapiro, Director of NDN's Globalization Initiative and former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs Location: McCormick Place Convention Center: Room 404 A-C
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