Guv reaches out to American Indians, Hispanics

Gov. Bill Richardson had an opportunity to capitalize on being the most prominent presidential candidate to attend Thursday’s Prez on the Rez forum, and he seized it.

Richardson said the event, the first of its kind on American Indian land, was a pivotal step for American Indians.

“It shows that this is in my judgment a step forward, although it is negative and embarrassing that not every candidate is here,” he said.

“Every candidate” included the three frontrunners – Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards – who all declined invitations. Richardson was joined at the forum only by Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel.

Southern California’s Press Enterprise took a look today at what that means for the other candidates, quoting tribal leaders and politicos as saying the decision by the three frontrunners was “unwise.”

“It will have an impact. The reality played out here today will have an impact in Indian country,” Frank La Mere, chairman of the Democratic National Committee’s Native American Coordinating Council, told the newspaper. “There is some fence mending to be done between now and the Iowa caucuses.”

Kalyn Free, president of the group that organized the forum, told the 200 people who attended to “put our money and our votes and our organizing strength behind the candidate that best supports Indian issues.”

And Robert Martin, chairman of the Morongo tribe of Southern California, which hosted the event, said candidates who discounted the influence of tribes were wrong to do so.

“They should take a moment and talk to Al Gore about what a few hundred votes can mean,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “Some candidates still don’t get it.”

You can watch video highlights of the forum by clicking here. Technical problems prevented the live broadcasting of the forum on the internet, but the group plans to rebroadcast it later. You can click here to learn more as updates are posted.

Richardson on Thursday also announced his Native Americans for Bill Richardson group, obviously designed to draw the support of American Indians.

“As president, I will work to restore the trust between our government and our country’s native peoples. My administration will focus on policies that promote the continued strength, integrity and resiliency of Native Americans,” Richardson states on his Web site. “The relationship between the federal government and tribes has increasingly come under assault. President Bush’s administration has created an environment that undermines tribal America’s forward progress. The attack on tribal sovereignty must stop.”

Leadership of the new group includes tribal members from New Mexico, California and a number of states from Alabama all the way to Alaska.

A new attempt to reach Hispanics

Meanwhile, polls have shown that the majority of Hispanics across the nation don’t even realize Richardson is Hispanic, and a July survey of Hispanics in Nevada found that 58 percent supported Clinton, while 14 percent supported Richardson, 7 percent supported Obama and 5 percent supported Edwards.

In an attempt to change that, Richardson announced in Nevada on Thursday a new Hispanic outreach movement, “Mi Familia Con Richardson.” The campaign is asking families supporting Richardson to find five additional supporters and then form a local chapter of Mi Familia Con Richardson. They’ll then be asked to volunteer with Richardson’s campaign.

The Associated Press reported that Richardson told reporters after the news conference, in Spanish, that, “Because my name is Richardson, many Latinos don’t know I’m Latino.”

A number of prominent Hispanics joined Richardson to announce the new group in Nevada, where the governor stressed the grassroots nature of the outreach effort.

“My campaign is about talking to people face-to-face,” he said, according to a news release. “Grassroots programs like Mi Familia con Richardson are a great way to get my message out directly to voters.”