COUNTDOWN

The Latino Vote

Despite his Democratic nomination victory, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) never did make much in the way of inroads among Latino voters during the primary season. Nor did he attract the support of more than a handful of members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Now he's trying to change that.

Within hours of wrapping up the nomination last week, Obama put in a call to Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), the chairman of the CHC. And Baca, who like most CHC members had supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) during the primaries, said he was ready to help.

"It's going to be my responsibility, along with many other members, to convince the Hispanic community that he represents their interests," Baca told washingtonpost.com's Capitol Briefing.

It may be a tall order. Clinton beat Obama among Hispanic voters by wide margins in nearly every state, capping it off with a 36-point victory in Puerto Rico on June 1.

Baca said Obama failed to gain much Hispanic support during the primaries because "he didn't reach out." But Obama is reaching out now; not only did the senator himself call Baca, but Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Federico Peña, the former Clinton Cabinet official, also called last week seeking to get Baca aboard.

What advice is Obama getting from Hispanic members? Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.) joked that Obama needs to approach the task the way an addict in a 12-step program does: "First, accept there is a problem."

"Let's not make the mistake that certainly John Kerry made in 2004, where he basically suspended his outreach to the Latino community on the idea that he was going to win them anyway," Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez specifically referenced Obama's campaign style, often marked by blockbuster events in huge venues, as an ineffective one in the Latino community. "There needs to be a lot more retail politics, which allows the candidate to talk about specific policies that aren't easily transmitted to a 35,000-person audience," Gutierrez said.

Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.) agreed. "It's about grass-roots campaigning the old-fashioned way. It's not so much the stadium presentations," she said.

Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said he was concerned about "slippage" to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by some Hispanic voters, especially since there was some initial enthusiasm for McCain in the Hispanic community "based on his early efforts on immigration," adding: "But he's basically repudiated those efforts as the campaign has gone on."

Obama has a significant amount of work to do to win support from Latinos, but Grijalva is cautiously optimistic that he can pull it off.

"I don't want to say it's all rosy, but we're going to work on it," he said.

10 DAYS: Michelle Obama, the wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, guest hosts the popular day time talk show "The View." Expect a series of profiles over the coming weeks that explore Michelle Obama and delve into the marriage of the duo who could be the first couple come November.

33 DAYS: The National Governors Association hosts its 100th anniversary gathering in Philadelphia in mid-July. The veepstakes talk will be hot and heavy with scads of potential picks for both parties converging on the City of Brotherly Love.