Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is taking the lessons learned from Latino voters in a hard-fought California Congressional race and putting them into practice. Amanda Renteria, a former Capitol Hill staffer, is using her experience running in California’s 21st district to ensure Clinton doesn’t take the Latino vote for granted as her campaign’s political director.
Already, Clinton has done extensive outreach to the Latino community, speaking in front of national advocacy groups such as the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) annual convention earlier this month in Kansas City and addressing issues like immigration and economic inequality.
It simply won’t be enough for Democrats to get Latinos out to the polls this election. As Renteria discovered in California, “It is not just about ‘come vote for me, but how can I help?” Latino voters increasingly cannot be considered a reliable Democratic constituency in all parts of the country. Going into 2016, Clinton and other Democrats will need to articulate a vision and policy ideas that resonate with Latino families.
The campaign has major Latino voices serving as surrogates for Clinton that include former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who are helping her connect with Latino voters not just on a political level, but on a personal level as well. “It is really time for Latinos to understand who is with them and who is not,” Renteria said.
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