He came; they listened; they voted. It’s not usually that easy.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had dropped in at West Tampa’s Salcines Park to exhort a couple hundred Obama faithful to vote early. When he had finished his boilerplate pep talk, the rally attendees were encouraged to simply walk across the street to vote early at the West Tampa Library, one of Hillsborough County’s 13 early voting locations. Most did – and queued along Union Street.
“Well, you can’t beat the logistics,” acknowledged Richardson. “We’re trying to get out the early-voting message.”
Looking and sounding more animated and affable than when he was a presidential candidate, Richardson plugged for early voting after emphasizing Obama positions on job stimulus, energy independence and a foreign policy “that won’t be based exclusively on force.”
Aside from a sprinkling of some “cambios” (change), a “si se puede” (yes, we can), a “basta ya” (enough is enough) and an “Obamanos” (Let’s go – for Obama), the Richardson pitch didn’t seem overly tailored to an Hispanic crowd. It wasn’t intended to be.
Richardson, of course, is keenly aware of Florida’s politically eclectic Hispanic composition – from Republican Cubans in South Florida to Democratic Puerto Ricans in Orlando to a generally moderate mix of those in the Tampa Bay area whose heritage is Spanish, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican and Central American.
“I don’t give them an ‘Hispanic’ message,” explained Richardson. “I give them an American message. It’s positive and it’s broad, and it’s about concerns that are everybody’s. It’s not just about immigration.”
And speaking of – Richardson said to expect immigration action sooner rather than later from a President Obama.
“Senator Obama is committed to comprehensive, bi-partisan immigration reform,” he emphasized. “And he’s committed to that reform in the first three months of an Obama Administration.”
PS: Richardson’s wife is from Massachusetts, so the governor admitted to an allegiance to the dethroned Boston Red Sox. But he obviously enjoyed rolling out the Latino surnames of Tampa Bay Rays players Fernando Perez, Dioner Navarro and Matt Garza.