Wednesday, June 23, 2004, 12:00 A.M. Pacific

Available online at http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=navarrette23&date=20040623

Ruben Navarrette Jr. / Syndicated columnist
Kerry and the Latino vote: hurdles and opportunity

DALLAS — If John Kerry is going to have a prayer of capturing a respectable percentage of the Latino vote (and for Democrats, "respectable" means 70 percent or better), he had better get with the programa.

Up to now, the presumptive Democratic nominee hasn't had much to say to the nation's largest minority. Kerry won't go anywhere near the immigration issue or explain where he stands on assorted immigration bills in Congress.

And the Massachusetts senator can't say much about the education issue, given that his party — in carrying water for teachers' unions — has tried to kill school-choice programs that help poor Latino students escape from failing public schools.

Nor does Kerry seem eager to revisit how he and his Democratic colleagues in the Senate tried to keep Teamsters happy in 2001 by preventing Mexican trucks from rolling along U.S. roadways — in violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

I guess Kerry could talk about all the Hispanic-related pieces of legislation that he proposed or co-sponsored during his many years in the Senate.

That is if he had any to talk about.

With such an abysmal record, it's no wonder Kerry prefers to limit his Hispanic outreach efforts to 30-second ads on Spanish-language television and a speech on Cinco de Mayo. What's Spanish for déjà vu? For Bill Clinton, Hispanic outreach meant gobbling up plates of Mexican food. For John Kerry, it means playing up Mexican holidays. Next up: Sept. 16, Mexican independence day.

At least Clinton could get away with it. He exuded empathy and convinced people that he really cared about their plight. Kerry will have a tougher time, given that what he exudes is an inability to relate to anyone who doesn't spend the winter months snowboarding in Vail.

That leaves out most Hispanics. Although it's worth noting that without the sweat of Hispanic immigrants, many a Colorado ski lodge probably couldn't open for business.

If he ever gets around to courting Latinos, Kerry will have to convince them that he's in their corner and shares their concerns. But first, he'll have to overcome the hurdles that tend to trip up Democrats when reaching out to Latinos.

Those hurdles include the tendency to take Latino support for granted and not dedicate the resources and attention that, for example, candidates use to woo suburban soccer moms. There's also a long-held concern that paying special attention to Hispanics will come across as a slight to African Americans, a loyal constituency. Then there's the concern that Hispanics aren't reliable Democrats, and that — even with all these outreach efforts — these conservative voters will reserve the right to vote Republican.

There's the tendency to simply translate material into Spanish, brushing aside what commercial marketers have learned about how many Hispanics prefer to be approached in English. And, finally, there's the delicate balance of maintaining union support while acknowledging Americans' dependence on immigrant labor from Mexico and the rest of Latin America.

That's a lot to overcome. But this year, Democrats have an opportunity to go to Latinos with a message that should really resonate.

Kerry has the chance to take one of President Bush's perceived strengths and turn it against him. If there's one thing that Latino voters tell pollsters they like about the president, it's the sense that he's a straight shooter who doesn't hedge or shade the truth. Well, the last few weeks have not been kind to the White House on that score.

Amid a new round of accusations that the administration overplayed its hand about the alleged ties between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein — and the steady drip-drip of damning information about what went wrong at Abu Ghraib — voters are left to wonder if the current White House is all that different from the one it replaced.

Kerry could try to make the case to Latino voters that, when it comes to the war in Iraq, President Bush hasn't leveled with them. He could say the administration misled the public about the reasons for war and that it continues to mislead now that combat rages on. Kerry might even point out how, when politicians rush to war in advance of their own agendas, it's young soldiers who pay the price. And he might add how — what do you know — in this war, many of those paying that price have Latino surnames.

Kerry needs to drop the shtick and instead make a serious run at the Hispanic vote. Then he wouldn't have to limit his campaigning to Mexican holidays.

Ruben Navarrette's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is rnavarrette@dallasnews.com