U.S.

Latinos want Cabinet posts

11-08-2008 | AP

Panama Star WASHINGTON. Weeks before Barack Obama won the presidency, he met privately in Washington with his former Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and Latino political leaders who had fervently backed her bid.

The cards were laid upon the table, according to a participants. The Hispanic leaders said they expected at least two Latinos to be named to an Obama Cabinet — meeting the standard set by President-elect Bill Clinton in 1992 — but preferred three. Of course, they also wanted sub-Cabinet-level posts.

In return, Obama needed assurances that Hispanics would be mobilized in large enough numbers to make him the winner in the battleground states of Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Florida.

On Election Day, Obama won all four states over Republican John McCain largely because of the Latino vote.

Hispanics delivered. Now the question is, how much can Latinos expect from Obama?

The president-elect has not made any firm commitments.

During a speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in September, he asked for their policy ideas and their votes and added, “When I’m president, I’ll be asking many of you to serve at every level of government.”

Cecilia Munoz, vice president of National Council of La Raza, believes ”Latinos will be prominent in an Obama administration “just as we would be in any administration moving forward,” she added.

But as the first African-American elected to the presidency, Obama is expected to face enormous pressures from various interests — women, Asian-Americans, Latinos and especially African-Americans — for top positions in his administration.