Clinton goes to Hidalgo

Region may be key to her bid in the Texas primary

PHARR (By James Pinkerton, Houston Chronicle) February 13, 2008 — Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters had been open only for a few hours Tuesday morning, but labor contractor Sara Lopez was already wrapping reception tables in red, white and blue paper.

''We believe in her, this is Clinton country," said Lopez, who spent the last five years shuttling migrant workers to onion fields in New Mexico. ''The Hispanic vote will make the difference for once in the history of the United States."

Buzz and excitement in the Lower Rio Grande Valley about the Democratic primary between Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama is surging — and for good reason.

In a tight race marked by a string of recent Obama wins in several states, the March 4 Texas primary — and its jackpot of 228 delegates — could determine the Democratic nominee for president.

Both candidates have launched campaign offices in Texas. Ads are planned. A debate is set. Big-wig supporters are lining up. And today, Clinton is scheduled to begin a second day of a Texas campaign visit with stops in McAllen, Corpus Christi and San Antonio.

It's no coincidence the New York senator is visiting McAllen, in the Valley's Hidalgo County.

The key to taking Texas appears to be luring Hispanics, who make up a sizable portion of registered voters in the state. And few regions in Texas have a higher percentage of Hispanics than the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where 89 percent of the 1.2 million residents are Hispanic, according to the latest census data. There are 494,000 registered voters in this four-county area of South Texas.

Clinton hopes to repeat in Texas her success on Super Tuesday, when she received the support of more than 60 percent of Hispanic voters, including 67 percent in California.

High turnout expected

Her name, and that of President Bill Clinton, is on the lips of many in this solidly Democratic territory.

Local voters have rushed to elections offices and asked for sample ballots ''with Clinton's name on it," said Hidalgo County Election Administrator Teresa Navarro.

She expects enthusiasm in the Democratic race will draw upwards of 75,000 voters in Hidalgo.

Local residents and political experts said Clinton's domestic agenda, her mostly favorable immigration stance and the legacy of her husband's presidency defined by a healthy economy and expanded social programs make her a force here.

Support for Obama is spotty in the Valley, a region with very few black residents.

''In terms of the popular vote down here, it's expected she will win," said Jerry Polinard, a professor who chairs the political science department at the University of Texas-Pan American in nearby Edinburg. ''The name is well-known, and the Clintons are well-connected to the local political leaders."

Obama lacks roots in Texas but drew huge crowds at rallies in Austin last year. Polinard expects Obama to do better upstate, but "he can't ignore the Valley."

The Obama campaign announced Tuesday it will air new Spanish language radio ads in South Texas. The ad promotes Obama's decision to forgo a high-paying job after college and work in the community to help families hurt by plant closings.

Obama's Texas spokesman Josh Earnest said Hispanics will support Obama for his record of working with the Hispanic community in Illinois and a career marked by public service and standing up to special interests.

"We're going to spend a lot of time, energy and resources to introduce Senator Obama to voters across the state of Texas, including in the Rio Grande Valley," Earnest said.

He said Obama didn't do as well with Hispanics in other states because of the compressed time schedule of primaries. "He wasn't able to campaign as long and fewer people got to know him," Earnest said.

Polinard said the Valley's traditionally low voter turnout may rob Clinton of much-needed convention delegates, since they are apportioned on the basis of past turnout.

In the heavily Hispanic districts of state Sens. Juan Hinojosa of McAllen and Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville, low turnout in previous elections means there are only seven delegates at stake in those districts. But heavily urban Senate districts where turnout was higher would have more delegates.

''The obvious demographic factors, education and income, are always directly related to turnout, and in the Valley we have a population with disproportionately lower incomes and levels of education," Polinard said.

'We don't know him'

In Hidalgo County, the Valley's most populous, the median household income is $28,660. The county election administrators office said the 2004 general election drew 43 percent of the county's 269,000 registered voters, well below the 64 percent turnout nationally.

Next door to Clinton's newly opened campaign office is the Morning Dove Day Care Center, where dozens of senior citizens are bused in for a day filled with chalupa, the Mexican version of bingo, dances and shopping trips.

Hillary is popular here. Obama is hardly mentioned.

''Basically, we don't know him," said Maria Guadalupe Trevino, a longtime Valley resident. ''And we know her because her husband was a good president. He worked a lot to help the older people, with benefits and Medicare."

Residents still recall that during the Clinton administration, Vice President Al Gore visited the Valley to inaugurate urban and rural empowerment zones. Economically distressed areas, including the Valley, received millions in federal dollars to improve infrastructure, pay for job training and start new businesses.

Janie Corpus, who owns Morning Dove, supports Hillary Clinton because she is upset by the human costs of social programs cut by Republicans.

''When they raise Social Security benefits, and it puts people over the income limit by even a dollar, they make them leave the program," she said.

In nearby Mission, barber Justo Gonzalez was giving $7 haircuts in Ciro's Barber Shop on Conway Street.

He described himself as a conservative liberal and said Clinton was the best candidate to revive the economy.

''We need a lot of things, a lot of change. The spending is the wrong way," said Gonzalez, who believes Clinton will follow her husband's economic policies.