Obama Campaign Rallies Latinos

By Nicole Henninger

Roll Call Staff

The Obama campaign reached out to the Hispanic community on Wednesday, as Michelle Obama delivered a 20-minute speech to some 500 people gathered at the Colorado Convention Center.

The Latino vote is one of the most crucial in the upcoming election and analysts say it is still up for grabs.

“This election is about Latino families and all the families in the nation who are often hurt by economic downturn,” Obama said.

“Si se puede,” the crowd frequently responded: “Yes we can.”

In a “world as it should be,” Obama said, “we would have immigration policy that brings 12 million people out of the shadows.”

The Democratic National Committee-sponsored event included other prominent Latino speakers, among them former Denver Mayor Federico Peña.

“We are very blessed as Latinos because in 2008, we are going to elect the new president of the United States,” Peña said.

Coloradan Christy Rodriguez, a former supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), said voting for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is a “no-brainer.”

“I don’t think there is a choice. There is no way McCain can fulfill our dreams and what we need as a nation,” Rodriguez said, referring to the presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). “Obama is the only one who provides any choice that is logical, that’s reasonable.”