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Morning News

Tobar: Family Values Offer Bush Opportunity to Gain Ground Among Mexican-Americans in California

Aired July 5, 2000 - 9:31 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Citing his support for higher pay for teachers, the National Education Association, the NEA, has endorsed Al Gore for president. Gore is scheduled to address the group tomorrow in Chicago. Today, he is to speak to a rival group, the American Federation of Teachers, meeting in Philadelphia. On Monday, Gore addressed the nation's largest Hispanic group in San Diego. He told the group his Republican rival, George W. Bush, is unsympathetic to their health care concerns.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush will have a chance to defend himself today. On the heels of a Fourth of July parade appearance in Belton, Texas, which is south of Dallas, about 60 minutes, Bush is set to speak today to that same Hispanic group at a convention in San Diego.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The presence of both presidential candidates underscores the perceived importance of the Hispanic vote in the 2000 race.

Joining us now from Los Angeles to talk about the Hispanic impact this election year is Hector Tobar. He is a reporter for the "Los Angeles Times," someone quite familiar with Hispanic voters.

Hector, good morning, thanks for joining us.

HECTOR TOBAR, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Good morning.

KAGAN: Put into perspective for us just how important the Hispanic voting block is in year 2000 for the presidential race?

TOBAR: Well, there is four states in which the Hispanic vote is the largest: California, Texas, Florida, and New York. And those four states, together, make up about half of the votes needed to win in the electoral college; so very important.

KAGAN: Let me follow this logic, as many people would say, as California goes, perhaps the presidential election goes. And as the Hispanic vote goes within California, that's how California will go.

TOBAR: Oh, definitely, I think that, especially in California, the Latino-Hispanic vote is going to be very important. It's probably the part of Al Gore's base where he's the most vulnerable, I think. Traditionally, Hispanics in California are a Democratic bunch, and in fact, recent polls show that Gore leads among Hispanics two to one. However, I think Bush has a lot of tools. He has a certain appeal to the Latino voters that could be very effective, the same kind of appeal he's shown in Texas.

KAGAN: What is a presidential candidate to do, if you are talking about the Hispanic voting block. I would imagine that the interests of the Mexican-American family in Southern California is very different from a Cuban-American family in Florida. And then you look at a Puerto Rican-American family in New York. You can call those all Hispanic families and yet very different interests.

TOBAR: Oh, that's definitely true. There isn't really -- it's a very heterogeneous community and there really isn't a single formula, I think, that can be used to appeal to Hispanic voters across the country. You know, as you point out, it's a very diverse spectrum.

I would say that towards the right of the spectrum are the Miami Cubans, the Cuban-Americans in Miami who tend to be very devoutly Republican. And towards the left end of the spectrum, the Puerto Rican community, in New York especially, tend to be very solidly Democratic.

In between, the Mexican-American community, and that's sort of the key, I think, to Governor Bush's Latino strategy. Can he sway a population that tends to be a little bit centrist? Yes, traditionally Democratic, the Mexican-Americans are traditionally Democratic, but also very conservative on social values.

And I think that might be the thing that sort of unites. There might be one common thread between the communities is that, although there's a diversity of opinions in terms of party politics, there's a very strong emphasis on family in the Latino community. And I think that, if Governor Bush can make ground up in California, it will be by appealing to family values in California especially.

KAGAN: It will be interesting to watch how this all plays out. Hector, we'll have to have you back as the election gets closer.

TOBAR: Thank you.

KAGAN: Hector Tobar, with the "L.A. Times," thanks for your time this morning, appreciate it.

TOBAR: Thank you.

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