Politics

Clinton Courts Hispanics

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 14, 2000 / 11:33 AM EST / CBS

President Clinton, who is trying to blunt the popularity of Texas Gov. George W. Bush among Hispanics, Monday accused Republicans of deliberately delaying the nominations of three Hispanic nominees for the federal bench.

"Some people don't want these folks on the court," Mr. Clinton said to an audience of Hispanic leaders and Hispanic administration officials at the White House.

"They don't want you to know they don't want them on the court, because then you might not want them in the Senate," Mr. Clinton said during his third meeting with prominent Hispanics in a week. "This is not rocket science. This is what's going on."

Last week, Hispanic members of Congress met with the president and top aides to discuss three Hispanic nominees for federal judgeships. None has been confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, although the GOP leadership has promised a vote by mid-March on Richard Paez of Los Angeles, whose nomination has languished for four years.

Also last week, Clinton paid emotional tribute to Alfred Rascon, an immigrant from Mexico belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor for valor during the Vietnam War. Rascon's background got nearly equal billing with his battlefield heroism during the event.

Read CBS News Producer Theresa Bujnoch's series on the increasing influence of Hispanic voters.

The president did not mention the Republican presidential front-runner by name as he accepted the League of United Latin American Citizens' lifetime achievement award. But his two mentions of Bush's Democratic counterpart, Vice President Al Gore, drew warm applause.

Monday, Mr. Clinton pointed out achievements during his administration, including expansion of education and health care programs benefiting Hispanics and the reduced unemployment and poverty rates for the nation's fastest-growing population group.

President Clinton also appealed to Hispanics and other minorities to participate in this year's Census. The administration estimates 8.4 million people were not counted in the last headcount, many of them minorities.

"If we want to make good decisions about where we are going, we first have to have good information about who we are," Mr. Clinton said.

The award is the first that the nonpartisan LULAC has given to a president. But the group's executive director, Brent Wilkes, said the White House ceremony is not an implicit endorsement of Gore in the 2000 election.

"We're not saying, 'Hispanics, stay with the Democratic Party,'" Wilkes said. "We're recognizing Clinton for his record."

During its legislative meeting this week, LULAC will hear from a prominent Hispanic in the administration, Army Secretary Louis Caldera. But a frequent Clinton critic, Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, also is to speak.

"It's good for the community to be sought after by both parties," Wilkes said. "I don't think it's healthto be identified with only one party."

In the last two presidential elections, Hispanics voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Clinton - 72 percent to 21 percent in 1996 and 61 percent to 25 percent in 1992.

But the president took heed of polls last month reflecting growing Hispanic support for Republican themes, said the senior administration official.

A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that Bush would draw at least 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in November, nearly double what Republican nominee Bob Dole received in 1996.