Like Like Addie, I was somewhat surprised by Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama today, since before dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination, he was Hillary Clinton's staunchest defender in debates. One might even have thought he was buttering Clinton up in hopes of perhaps landing a post in her administration. Of course, Richardson says it's nothing personal, but I, too was struck by the line on supporting a candidate who "rejects the politics of pitting race against race." It does indeed seem as if he is implying that the Clinton campaign has been doing just that. Richardson, who aspired to be the first Latino president, can clearly understand the effect that hate crimes, economic hardship and scapegoating have had on race relations in America, so I'm not surprised that Obama's speech pushed him towards an endorsement.
It will be interesting, though, to see whether the speech has an effect on the larger Latino voting bloc, which has clearly helped Clinton in many primaries thus far. But as many studies have shown, the notion that there's a giant "rift" between African Americans and Latinos in the United States is largely fictional. In the primaries, I think it's been less racial tension than name recognition that has caused a gap between the candidates among Latino voters. It seems highly possible that Obama's speech and Richardson's endorsement might help close it.
--Kate Sheppard
