I was reminded of how lucky I am to be a journalist just a few days ago, when I had an opportunity to be a witness to history. After months of pleading with his campaign for a one-on-one interview, finally Sen. Barack Obama would sit down and talk to Univision. I cut my mini-vacation short, flew to Washington, D.C., and ended up getting more than I bargained for: The interview was actually two for the price of one.
All eyes were on the events unfolding at the American University campus in our nation’s capital. Sen. Obama was about to receive the much-coveted endorsement of one of the Democratic Party’s most influential figures and a member of one of the most revered political families.
On stage with Sen. Ted Kennedy were his nephew Congressman Patrick Kennedy and his niece Caroline Kennedy, daughter of slain President John F. Kennedy. The praise that came from the Kennedy endorsement was the equivalent of the crowning of a king. “There was another time, when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a new frontier,” said the senator in reference to his brother John.
The Kennedy clan seemed to have found in Barack Obama the man who could inspire people the way John and his brother Bobby did. Or so they said. When it comes to political endorsements, this probably was the biggest to date in the political season. That’s why it came as a bit of a surprise when I was told that in the sit-down interview with Obama after the rally, he would be joined by Sen. Kennedy.
It was an exclusive. Yes, it would seem like a journalistic coup for our network, but more than that, it was a strategic move on the part of the campaign.
“Why Obama?” I asked Kennedy. In a very diplomatic way, he responded that while he has a great deal of respect for Sens. Clinton and Edwards and would support them should they win the nomination, he feels Obama “has demonstrated his ability to bring the North, South, East and West, the young and the old together, and he has a message of hope that has been very appealing to the Hispanic community.”
That would explain why the first and only interview they would offer side by side on that historic day was to Univision, the largest Spanish-
language network in the country. “My family and I value very much the support we have received from the Hispanic community. The Hispanic community basically elected President Kennedy in 1960, and he never forgot that,” Kennedy said. Now the senator from Massachusetts is hoping to use the clout he feels he has with Hispanic voters to help Obama get to the White House.
Not an easy task. Hillary Clinton is the undisputed favorite of Latino voters. National polls show her with 59 percent support among Hispanic voters and Obama with only 19 percent.
“What can you offer Obama in terms of improving his standing with Hispanics?” I asked.
“One thing I can offer is that hopefully the Hispanic community will listen to Barack Obama, and they will listen to those who know him best,” he said.
I asked the Democratic presidential hopeful if he could win without the Hispanic vote. “Absolutely not,” he said. “I think that not only is it the vote of today, but it’s the vote of tomorrow. That is why my history is so important,” he added. “When people become familiar with that track record, then they will see that nobody in this race has stood up consistently on behalf of the Latino community more than I have.”
Whatever political benefit can be gained by Kennedy in endorsing Obama has yet to be seen, but in this political lovefest, it is Obama who stands to gain. Even more so, Latino voters can sit back and enjoy watching those who would be president of the most powerful country on Earth fight for their vote. That is the ultimate endorsement.

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(Maria Elena Salinas is the author of “I AM MY FATHER’S DAUGHTER: LIVING A LIFE WITHOUT SECRETS.” Reach her at www
.mariaesalinas.com)
© 2008 by Maria Elena Salinas
Distributed by King Features Syndicate