Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, has the role of keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention tonight. He has an even more important function: validator.
Castro, 37, a Stanford University and Harvard Law School graduate who is the first Hispanic convention keynoter, was re- elected last year to a second term with 82 percent of the vote in a city of 1.36 million people -- 63.2 percent of whom are Latino, according to the census.
“The main takeaway is, in order for Obama to win, Latinos have to vote,” said Paul Lopez, 34, a Denver city councilman who attended a Hispanic convention caucus session yesterday with Barack Obama’s campaign and party officials ahead of the convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The urgency surrounding the Hispanic vote is heightened in part because Obama is losing ground among working-class white men, those without college degrees. Hispanics may account for 8.9 percent of the U.S. electorate in November, up from 7.4 percent in 2008, according to a report last month by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based research institute. The group also projected turnout among eligible Hispanic voters at 52.7 percent, up from 49.9 percent four years ago.
Latinos could comprise 14 percent to 18 percent of the electorate in the battleground states of Colorado, Florida and Nevada, said Juan Sepulveda, senior adviser for Hispanic affairs for the Democratic National Committee.
Both parties have sought to showcase Latinos during their conventions. READ MORE
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