Today, President Obama is scheduled to speak at NCLR’s annual conference in Washington, DC. Three years ago, when President Obama was still candidate Obama, he spoke at the same conference in San Diego, saying:
“I think it’s time for a president who won’t walk away from something as important as comprehensive reform just because it becomes politically unpopular.”
Now, three years later, the President will have a captive audience as Latino voters wait to see if Obama will keep his promise. The President should certainly feel the pressure to deliver — especially since three successive 2011 tracking polls by Latino Decisions shows that less than 50% of Latino voters are certain to vote for Obama in 2012 (he won 67% in 2008). As Frank Sharry noted in his Huffington Post piece published yesterday:
The NCLR speech will be a telling moment. The anti-immigrant zeal of Republicans at all levels of government has Latinos deeply concerned. But the fact that President Obama has not leaned into this issue and fought as hard as he might for a community tired of being demonized and disrespected is also concerning. On Monday, they will find out if the candidate who promised to fight for them three years ago is a President who is willing to do so now.
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