During my years as a political organizer, I engaged in several heated discussions with my co-workers about the Latino electorate. I always felt that Latinos were treated as unwanted stepchildren of the political elite, and would complain about the lack of investment and inclusion of Latino voters in the overall campaign strategy. Usually, they would respond to my complaints by saying that they don't invest resources into mobilizing Latinos because Latinos don't vote. These responses would usually only further enrage me, and lead to more heated discussions and sometimes severed relationships.

The problem that I had was, that having walked so many doors, made so many phone calls, and attended countless events, I knew there was a hunger among Latinos to engage in the political process. They just needed a little pushing, and most of all a little respect. I would work on shoestring budgets, and was expected to make miracle happen. I couldn't understand why campaign managers were so opposed to investing resources in the Latino community, when I knew that a small investment would make all the difference. My arguments would usually end with me saying, "how do you know that Latinos won't vote if you have never invested anything in that community?"

As many of you know, in the spring of 2007 I accepted a position with the Nevada Democratic Party [1] to help educate voters about the Democratic Presidential Caucuses [2]. Nevada was selected as the second state in the nation to hold a caucus in large part to give Latinos a voice in the process. I knew that this would be a historic opportunity to prove once and for all that Latinos could be a determining factor in a major election. Of course, I think that in part I was offered the job to get me to shut up about the lack of engagement of Latinos. This was an incredible experience that allowed me to implement some innovative approaches [3] with Latino voters.  As you know, Latinos did indeed participate in record numbers [4] and proved to be a deciding factor [5] in Senator Clinton's victory.

Since then, it has just been incredible for me to watch what has developed in this presidential election cycle. Now working at NDN [6], I am able to participate on a national level to educate people about the Latino electorate (Read more about our research [7]).  From California to Illinois to New York, Latinos are voting in record numbers, and we still have Texas coming up on March 4th. Less than a year ago, the pundits were still questioning [8] if Latinos would play a role, and candidates were still deciding how much of an impact Latinos would be to their campaign. Today, there is no question about turnout, Latinos have proven to be a force, the questions are about how much candidates are investing to court Latino voters as we learned about in Ad Age [9]. Just as important to me, is not just that they are participating in record numbers, but they are making a political statement as well. We learn from Samuel Rodriguez [10] that religious Latino voters are holding Republicans accountable for their demonization of immigrants. Even conservatives like Geraldo Rivera [11] are taking a hard stance against candidates and their anti-immigrant rhetoric. Latinos are not just blindly getting involved because somebody asked them to vote, they are participating because they have something to say. Our report Hispanics Rising [12] documents in detail the links between the immigration debate and Latino elecoral participation.

There is still a long way to go in changing the mindset of many in the political arena, but this election cycle will certainly change the way we look at engaging people in the political process. I know that Novemberis still far away, but trust you me when I tell you that references to the "Sleeping Giant [13]" are as outdated as last year's Swim Suit edition [14].

On a final note, I mentioned to you yesterday [15] that Paul West's article was very similar to what NDN has been mentioning on our blog, and today I read on MSNBC [16] an article [17] that also sounds a lot like what we have been saying.  Even shared a similar title, Texas Two-Step [18].  I guess at least two people are reading the blog.  Keep reading and I will keep writing. Adios!