According to the AP, Obama and Clinton are adapting their styles to campaign in Puerto Rico. They are shaking hands, dancing, drinking, participating in caravans, and who knows, maybe getting some great downtime drinking pina coladas (which were invented in Puerto Rico) on the beach!
It looks like the AP is getting the hang of it, how Puerto Ricans campaign, and any attention we can get to our problems and how the federal government typically forgets about us when creating federal programs is good for my people:
Forget placards, stoic bodyguards and formal rallies. To win Puerto Rico's presidential primary, both the Clinton and Obama camps are campaigning in the boisterous, face-to-face "boricua style" favored on the Caribbean island.
Again, here is the mistake the media pundits are making (as a fellow blogger who is a commonwealth supporter has discussed in his own diary on dailykos.com): Assuming that Hillary will win simply on her record in the past among Latinos. She does have the predominantly pro-statehood NPP supporting her, given her husband's friendship with former NPP Governor Pedro Rossello but that by no means guarantees a landslide victory:
But Sen. Hillary Clinton is favored to win here, partly because she's done better among Hispanics in previous primaries and partly because the senator from New York already represents a lot of Puerto Ricans, many with relatives on the island.
The idea that that there is a Democratic Chairman on the island is misleading, as there really is not much of an organization, and whether you are a Democrat or a Republican on the island is a more pragmatic decision, though most Republicans on the island are Republicans for the reason that they usually are just pro-tax cut, pro-business Republicans:
"There's a cultural clash in how campaigning is done" in Puerto Rico versus the mainland, said Roberto Prats, the island's Democratic Party chairman and a Clinton campaign spokesman. "We suggested they build a campaign 'boricua style.' "
It is also interesting that Roberto Prats comes from a primarily well to do statehood family, and as is typical in Puerto Rican politics (and used to be in the US from the 1830s to the 1890s), he committed the ultimate family betrayal by actually becoming a member of the PDP, when former PDP Governor Sila Calderon ran a campaign in 2000 as a uniter and brought him as her adviser. The rumors are that he has since distanced himself from his party after the corruption scandals currently plaguing Governor Acevedo-Vila.
"Boricua," derived from the Taino Indian word for the island's people, is the term Puerto Ricans use to refer to themselves.
I forgot to mention this in my last article. I did say that Puerto Ricans consider themselves the result of the cosmic race, a feeling that I believe emerged with the salsa genre Fania AllStars during the 1960s and 1970s and has been reinforced by the burgeoning reggaeton music in recent years. The cosmic race idea is that Puerto Ricans -- along with many Caribbean Latin Americans -- are one ethnic group, the result of the fusing together of African, Taino and White ancestry.
(As an aside, I say Caribbean Latin Americans because other Latin Americans are more stratified into similar racial categories as in the US or in the case of Argentina are practically a homogeneous White culture due to a sad history of a national whitening policy, where gauchos or cowboys were paid for the head of every Native American or African person they brought back. As another aside, very few people know that the first African American nation in the Americas emerged in Argentina when they ceded from the predominantly White nation, and as you can imagine, they were subsequently slaughtered to teach them a lesson and ensure that no African rebellion like that would happen again -- until Haiti's independence. But now I digress...)
The article goes on to describe the style of Puerto Rican campaigns and how Clinton and Obama have had to adapt to get votes:
Large, billowing flags are replacing modest placards, staffers for both candidates have summoned their rusty Spanish, and former President Clinton's bodyguards were asked to relax during his visit to a sprawling public housing complex...
Clinton's campaign hired a Puerto Rican "reggaetonero" to draw crowds with jingles infused with the heavy boom-da-boom-boom bass rhythm of the popular hybrid Latin rap music.
During her second visit to Puerto Rico, Chelsea Clinton was accompanied by a "batucada," or percussion ensemble, of a dozen young musicians armed with drums, maracas and whistles as she greeted shoppers at a San Juan mall.
It is a warmer, more intimate way to campaign, said Clinton spokesman Angel Urena.
Apparently, it works.
Michael Ayala, the 19-year-old batucada leader, said all 50 musicians he oversees are pledging to vote for Hillary Clinton and recruit at least two friends each to do likewise.
Obama supporters also are organizing "marquesina," or garage meetings, a decades-old tradition in which politicians meet community leaders for informal question-and-answer sessions. And they're considering launching "caravana" voter drives, which involve raucous caravans of hundreds of cars that meander through the streets with megaphones and pulsating speakers.
"It's the grand finale," said Obama's local co-chairman, Pedro Pierluisi. "That's something very folkloric of Puerto Rico."
The lack of knowledgeable advisers of Puerto Rican (and for that matter, Latino) issues in Obama's campaign, however, shows. One notable first misstep in LA was getting City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to endorse showing a lack of understanding in LA Latino politic:
Sure, Hillary had picked up Villaraigosa's endorsement, but his support was stronger among suburban Latinos, not the Latino community organizers of the 1960s who controlled the Latino political machine in places like East LA. Among the two groups within that machine, Obama sided with Rocky, a guy whose coalition has a considerable history of corruption. Nevertheless, Rocky seemed like a good match -- young, charismatic, the new generation. Unfortunately, he had a limited ability to bring out the 60's community organizers and therefore a limited ability to GOTV. In short, he aligned with the wrong group.
As I discuss in a separate diary, Obama made a similar mistake by aligning himself with pro-commonwealth Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, who at the time was under federal investigation for corruption, as his predecessor pro-statehood Gov. Pedro Rossello had been. In fact, the federal investigation (and even a local investigation by the pro-commonwealth government) found that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Rossello, even though many members of his cabinet ended up going to jail. Acevedo Vila, who had run an anti-corruption campaign in 2004 against Rossello, was embroiled in even worse corruption scandals than his predecessors, since the accusations pertained to his personal involvement in corruption as resident commissioner (our version of a US Congressman, except that s/he cannot vote on the House floor but depending on the goodwill of the party in power vote in committees). Despite the flurry of scandal surrounding Mr. Acevedo Vila, Obama wooed his support, most likely because one of the members of his Campaign Committee and US Congressman -- Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, who has also been linked to the Rezko scandal -- has long been a friend of Mr. Acevedo Vila, pushing forward his agenda in Congress.
(Aside: Rep Gutierrez is remembered by many for his opposition to a congressionally held plebiscite on the island in the 1990s, during which time he spoke disparagingly of the Puerto Rican people -- his own people, as he is Puerto Rican -- to oppose the vote to maintain the territorial status quo. His argument in committee was something along the lines of: "Why would the United States want Puerto Ricans as a state given their high levels of unemployment, poverty and crime." One might have expected to hear these comments from a Republican, but not from a fellow Democrat. He is also remembered for his famous quote to a journalist that there was no discrepancy between his pro-independence stance and his position as US Congressman because as he said something along these lines: "sometimes you have to work within the system to undermine the system.")
In addition, Dennis Rivera -- an influential member of SEIU -- supports Obama, and he himself is a commonwealther as well. Here is a pro-independence rally by a teacher's union in Puerto Rico complaining about Dennis Rivera's close ties to the pro-commonwealth PDP:
So despite my efforts to encourage the Obama campaign to seek a broad based coalition of commonwealthers, statehooders and independence supporters around the status issue to boost his standing on the island, he wooed Gov. Acevedo Vila. While some have indicated that he was uncomfortable with a quick endorsement, he sent a letter in the end where he promised neutrality on Puerto Rico status issue and used language from the pro-commonwealth PDP to argue for a constitutional assembly on the island and for the elimination of the White House Taskforce on Puerto Rico:
Obama visited briefly in November for a private fundraiser and a meeting with Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, who later endorsed him.
Hillary Clinton's last visit was after Hurricane Georges in 1998.
What the article does not note is that when Hillary came to the island, she extended an enormous aid package to the island for which she is warmly regarded by many Puerto Ricans. In addition, her husband also forgave several notable radical independence supporters who were in jail, which raised the couple's standing dramatically in the eyes of many Puerto Ricans.
But the Obama campaign said he will return before the primary, and a local party official said Clinton also will campaign on the island before the vote.
In fact, the Nuevo Dia yesterday reported that Obama will arrive on the island on Friday and Clinton on Saturday. So it should be interesting to see them on the campaign trail in Puerto Rico over the next few days.
So far, both campaigns have relied mainly on high-profile surrogates. The former first lady has been represented by her husband and daughter Chelsea. Obama has sent his wife, Michelle, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Only high information voters would have heard of these events. And of those who heard of these events, most may not be aware that there is a primary taking place. As I mentioned in a previous diary, my family had no idea until a couple of days ago that they could vote in the nomination process or that even a primary was taking place on the island! It is interesting to note, however, that within my family (hardly representative for the island as a whole) the younger folks are backing Obama (except my pro-Republican military cousins) and the older folks are backing Hillary, which suggests that this race is more fluid than the media has painted it to be. What surprises me, however, is that the campaign would have sent New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as though a Mexican-American could influence the vote of island Puerto Ricans... They would have done much better by sending some of Obama's Puerto Rican Chicago constituents instead!
Not to be outdone, Obama flew his Spanish-speaking staff to the U.S. Caribbean territory, where they met recently with university students. And Michelle Obama offered some Spanish -- "Se puede!" (We can!) -- during her visit.
Again, here is another example of the campaign's lack of understanding of Latino and especially Puerto Rican voters. "Si Se Puede," in recent Puerto Rican voter memory, was used by pro-statehood fmr Gov Rossello in his successful 1996 re-election campaign. Obama, however, given his policy position needs pro-commonwealth supporters. The first lesson a communications staff is taught is message discipline. But in this case, Obama is doing the equivalent of using the campaign message of a former Republican Governor to appeal to his own supporters!
The other misconception this shows is the idea that Puerto Rican students can be mobilized to vote in the same way as in the mainland. Puerto Rican student culture is steeped in liberalism as in the US, but liberalism in Puerto Rican universities means a disproportionately high number of pro-independence supporters, who out of principle would note vote anyway in a Democratic primary. (i.e., From their point of view, "If I want indepdendence, I will not vote in the colonialist's primary")
Obama, who has far more money than Clinton, launched his television ads last Saturday. They use a Spanish voiceover and show Obama speaking English with Spanish subtitles. The ad says Obama grew up on an island and in a family with few resources so he understands the concerns of Puerto Rican families. With the Iraq war distinctly unpopular in Puerto Rico, Obama closes by saying he will end the war and bring the troops home.
Again, unfortunately, Obama has lost a chance to strengthen his message with Puerto Ricans. As it turns out, when the US won Puerto Rico as war bounty from Spain in 1898, the sugar companies in Hawaii discovered that they could fix their labor problems by importing Puerto Rican workers for the task. Puerto Ricans were offered contracts to work in New York, and then put on ships and trains and sent to Hawaii via New Orleans and San Francisco. The rich contributions of Puerto Ricans to Hawaiian culture can be appreciated both in the music (the Puerto Rican cuatro guitar was adapted to Hawaii) and in the food (the roasting of pork, as one example). Obama could have made a commercial showing how he learned about Puerto Rican's contributions to Hawaii in order to identify further with Puerto Ricans on the island.
Also, subtitles? He would have done better having a narrator speak on his behalf -- as Clinton did in her commercial. One commonality among Latinos -- and Puerto Ricans, in particular -- is that we prefer that the candidate make an effort to speak to us in our language, no matter how badly they do so.
As yet another aside, there is a legend in Puerto Rico of a visit by then Governor Nelson Rockefeller some time in the 1950s or 1960s to the small town of Maricao. Mr. Rockefeller, who spoke pretty decent Spanish, decided to give his speech in Spanish, against the advice of his aides, who preferred a translator. In one part of his speech, to identify with the people of the town of Maricao, Mr. Rockefeller said: "En el dia de hoy, me siento tan maricon como todos ustedes!" The rough translation being: "On a day like today, I feel as gay as all of you." Mr. Rockefeller confused the word of the people of Maricao as "Maricones" (or gay people). It has been a running joke among older Puerto Ricans ever since.
Clinton has run radio ads and began running TV ads on Wednesday. The ad shows Clinton meeting with voters, while a woman says in Spanish that Clinton will create more jobs and economic incentives to boost the local economy. The narrator urges viewers to vote for Clinton if they want the island's voice to be heard.
That sounds like a much better ad, but where is any discussion of her contributions to the island as senator or the contributions of her husband as President? A much more powerful image would be to show excerpts of her speech when she came down to help the people of Puerto Rico after a hurricane devastated the island in 1998. She did so, however, in an oped piece in the major newspaper on the island. But visuals are generally more powerful than words.
The island switched from a caucus to a primary after Super Tuesday's inconclusive outcome prolonged the Democratic contest. The hope was that a full-scale vote would prompt candidates to make commitments on local issues.
Smart move: Puerto Rico hasn't received this much attention since the 1980 face-off between Sen. Edward Kennedy and President Carter.
The more important question is whether Puerto Ricans will answer to the call to vote. As a fellow Puerto Rican blogger has noted, turnout is likely to be a measly 400,000 or 500,000, if that, out of 4 million people, and there is always the potential of a boycott by the pro-commonwealth PDP forces due to their displeasure with how Gov. Acevedo Vila has been treated (unfairly, in their perception) by federal authorities.
For the original article in the AP, please see:
http://www.cnn.com/...