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Hillary, Obama, Sharpton to Address Hispanics NewsMax.com Wires Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott will headline the National Council of La Raza's conference in Miami next week, the group announced Tuesday. The annual event is expected to draw thousands of Hispanic students, business leaders, community organizers and officials for four days of educational forums and a little fun. Pop singer Elvis Crespo and Miami's own rapper Pitbull will provide entertainment. The Council will use the event to kick off a national campaign with Univision to register Hispanics to vote in the 2008 election. The campaign expands on the Los Angeles-based program "ya es hora" or "now is the time" to register new citizens. "We want to show that the Latino vote is important, that Latino voter turnout can make the difference," said Janet Murguia, NCLR president. Organizations such as NCLR and Univision have long helped Hispanics obtain U.S. citizenship and registered them to vote. But this year marks the first time these and other groups are working together in a nationwide push. Univision plans to air ads for the campaign on its national and radio networks, local affiliates and on the Internet.
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"What we hope will make a difference this year is that united front," said Univision news anchor Maria Elena Salinas. NCLR will focus its voter drive in 11 key states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas. The mix includes states with large, established Hispanic communities and those with growing Hispanic populations that could swing the 2008 election. The NCLR effort comes as naturalizations are already skyrocketing. In May 2006, 74,583 people applied for U.S. citizenship, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That number jumped more than 50 percent to 115,175 by May of this year, with Mexicans representing the largest group. NCLR attributes the increase to fee hikes set for later this month and concern over anti-Hispanic rhetoric that emerged during the immigration debate. Democrats hope the new citizens will choose their party rather than the Republicans, many of whom opposed last month's Senate bill because it provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
But Murguia said the organization is not looking to swing voters to one party. A number of Florida Republican leaders will attend the event, including three U.S. representatives and the governor. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain were all invited, though the group said they had yet to confirm Tuesday whether the candidates would attend. "We are bipartisan," Murguia said. "What we want is for people to be educated about the importance of their vote and where their representatives stand on the issues that are important to them."
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