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East Los Angeles and the primary race of presidential hopeful Barack Obama

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EAST LOS ANGELES AND THE PRIMARY RACE
OF PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL BARACK OBAMA

by
Wendy Carrillo

____________________________________________________________
A Professional Project Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)

December 2009

Copyright 2009 Wendy Carrillo

ii
Acknowledgements
There are many people that have guided me through the path of graduate school. First and
foremost, I’d like to thank my family who instilled in me a never ending spirit of
determination. There are many friends and USC alumni who helped me come to
understand myself through this process, thank you--you know who you are. A very
special gracias to a wonderful friend and mentor, Leticia Garcia, who throughout the
primary campaign and afterwards, made me better understand the significance of living
through history. To the many friends I made throughout the process of this story and
throughout my travels during the presidential campaign of 2008, thank you for the
memories. To a very special place, El Centro Chicano de USC, whose couch I crashed on
more than one occasion and whose commitment to Latino students is inspirational. Most
importantly, I’d like to thank the members of my committee, Ricardo Ramirez, professor
of political science and Felix Gutierrez, professor of journalism, who offered great
mentorship, encouragement and advice in those moments when I needed it the most and
lastly, my advisor, Roberto Suro, who I am sure I drove mad on more than one occasion,
but whose patience, expectations and unyielding emails allowed me to grow as a person
and as a writer. Thank you to the University of Southern California, the Annenberg
School for Communication, Michael Parks, Geneva Overholser, Allyson Hill, Abigail
Kaun and Dean Ernest J. Wilson III, all of whom played a role in my ability to stay in
school during a very difficult economic downturn. I am forever grateful for your trust and
support.

iii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iv
Introduction 1
Alma Marquez and the Women of East L.A. 2
All Roads Lead to Obama 6
The Strategy, the Delegates and the Other Candidate 11
Organizing the East L.A. Obama Volunteer Center 17
Hindsight is Always 20/20 23
References 28

iv
Abstract
The 2008 election of Barack Obama was a historic moment in the history of the
United States. During the primary season many Americans pondered the notion of a
female or an African American president. In the working class community of East Los
Angeles, under the leadership of a community organizer and single mother and with
virtually no resources, a coalition of women opened the “East Los Angeles Obama
Volunteer Center” just weeks before the Democratic primary and challenged the
overwhelming support that Sen. Hillary Clinton then enjoyed among Los Angeles Latinos
and especially Latino elected officials. The efforts made in East Los Angeles for Obama
during the California primary were not based on race or gender, but grew out of a firm
belief that Obama would be a guiding force in changing the course of the nation. The
small but steady mobilization in East Los Angeles towards the lesser known candidate
demonstrated the various layers of Latino political involvement and showcased a very
real need for change.
This story is a personal narrative and tribute to the often unrecognized role of
Latina women political organizers who tirelessly work campaigns, organize communities
and most often don’t receive credit or pay.

1
Introduction
In the fall of 2008, I attended a lecture given by Ricardo Ramirez, assistant professor of
political science at the University of Southern California. Professor Ramirez teaches a
course entitled “Latinos in Politics,” it is the only course of its kind that is solely
dedicated to looking at the past, present and future of the fastest growing population in
the country.
It was there where he stated, “There is very little academic work on the role of
Latinas in the election process.” He also went on to say, “more often than not it is women
who run grassroots campaigns, and yet, hardly ever get the credit. They are single
mothers, heads of household, students, professional woman, or maybe work two or three
jobs – yet there they are, campaigning – and chances are they are campaigning for a
man.”
As the only graduate student in the classroom, I felt a sense of obligation and
responsibility to tell the story of what I had recently experienced just a few months earlier
in the small working class, immigrant and unincorporated community of East Los
Angeles.
Amidst resistance, a group of women had come together during the California
primary to do what no one else would in that community. With no money and with little
resources they came together to support the presidential bid of the young African
American junior senator from Illinois named Barack Obama. This is that story.

2
It was two weeks before Super Tuesday and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton had
gained huge momentum amongst Latinos and the Los Angeles political establishment.
However there were still a few grassroots organizers who believed in the audacity of
hope. Despite Clinton’s overall popularity, potential shattering of the glass ceiling and the
historical possibility of the first female commander in chief, there were still a few people
I knew who were curious to know more about this man. A man who was wooing millions
with the gravitas of a scholar who longed for a united America. Could Barack Obama
become the living manifestation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dreams?
Alma Marquez and the Women of East L.A.
In January 2008, I was introduced to Alma Marquez through a mutual friend. We
were connected via e-mail in which we exchanged cell phone numbers. We initially
communicated via text messages and subsequently decided to meet. Our rendezvous was
to be at a real estate office in Monterey Park, a mixed community of middle class Asian
Americans and Latinos, just east of my home in East Los Angeles. Because we became
such close friends, I will call her by her first name, Alma, for the purpose of this story.
I arrived to the office pretty late in the evening. The streets were dark and cold
and the office, surrounded by glowing street lamps, was only semi-lit. The first thing I
noticed about Alma was her sense of urgency. She was a tall brunette who wore bright
red lipstick and diamond studded black rimmed glasses. She bustled around the semi-
empty office, showing me the cubicles and the space and asked if I could come back at

3
five a.m. the next morning. Her thin, fresh-faced ten year old daughter by her side
checked me out to see if I was serious about campaigning. She was a tiny version of her
mother, spirited and clever, with a light in her eyes that spoke to her keen imagination.
Alma had just returned from the Nevada caucuses and she punctuated every
statement with an elongated “giirrrl,” as she shared nightmarish stories regarding what
she believed was the campaign’s inability to hire the right people or properly reach out to
Latinos.
She firmly believed that Latinos in East Los Angeles, much like the Latino
communities of Nevada were not online or attending the Obama campaign’s town hall
meetings, but that instead the outreach had to be a matter of being out on the street,
knocking on doors, and recruiting individuals that looked like the residents of the
neighborhood. Alma was powerful, passionate and full of optimism and quite evidently, a
seasoned grassroots organizer.
A petite young dark haired Latina, who could not have been more than 23, was
dutifully taking notes and nodding her head every five minutes as Alma spoke. Her name
was Estee Sepulveda, she spoke flawless Spanish and turned out to be a field
representative for state Assemblywoman Karen Bass, who within months would become
the first African American woman to hold the post of speaker of the California state
assembly and the first African American woman to hold such a high office throughout the
nation.

4
Next to her, wearing a UCLA sweater and listening intently, was a tall, light
haired brunette who I had met before at various community events. Her name was Kristie
Hernandez, she was 24 and a local girl from Garfield High School who worked as a field
representative for state Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, who coincidently, was
also the first Latina to hold the powerful post. Kristie and I often joked about being rivals
because we attended rival schools, she went to Garfield and I went to Roosevelt – two of
the most overcrowded high schools in Los Angeles.
“Oh, it’s you, the Rough Rider” she would mock, which was often followed by a
hearty laugh.
“Don’t be mad because we beat you at the Classic!” I would shoot back.
The “East L.A. Classic” is the yearly football match-up of the two schools and is
said to be the biggest high school football game west of the Mississippi – a game of such
large attendance that went from being hosted at East Los Angeles Community College to
the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a few years.
Sitting on the floor was Suhagey Sandoval, a feisty 23-year old Latina from the
neighboring working class community of South Gate. Suhagey wore dark eyeliner and a
keffiyeh scarf around her neck and was a law fellow at UCLA, a program aimed at
helping talented students gain acceptance into law school. She refused to get a car, loved
public transportation and felt it her duty to be “green”. Suhagey was unapologetically,

5
openly gay and although her family was traditionally Catholic-- and had a Virgin Mary
altar in their living room to prove it--accepted her sexuality and supported her choice.
That night in Monterey Park, I can recall Alma’s intensity as she described
Obama as a man of integrity who would do the right thing for education and the children
in our communities. I learned about her deep connections to the immigrant experience,
being a single parent and what she called “surviving” public education in the Los Angeles
Unified School District. A single mother in her early thirties who emigrated from Mexico
as a child, Alma had graduated from Huntington Park High School, located in one of the
poorest communities of Los Angeles. She went on to receive her masters from UCLA in
urban planning, focusing on social policy, community and economic development.
Throughout the campaign and still, she serves as vice president of government and
external affairs for GreenDot public schools, a leader in charter school reform; thus, her
strong conviction on education reform.
Although Clinton had a proven track record with education advocacy, for Alma,
Obama epitomized upward mobility through access to higher education. He was a role
model for many inner-city youth. As Alma saw it, he was more in tune with the struggles
of everyday Americans than Clinton. It was this connection which made him more
deserving of the nation’s highest office.

6
All Roads Lead to Obama
At the meeting it was clear that resentment over the lack of Latino outreach by the
Obama campaign was growing in Los Angeles amongst those who wanted to support
him. Supporters were determined not to allow what happened in Nevada happen in
California. Although Obama would eventually take 14 of the 25 Nevada delegates at
stake, the news media reported a Clinton victory based on polls showing that she was
favored by 51% of caucus goers vs. 45% for Obama. While Obama had the support of the
Culinary Workers Union, the largest and most politically active union in Nevada and the
largest Latino membership, that endorsement had come just ten days out. Clinton, on the
other hand, had long established offices, staff and major endorsements from Latino
leaders.
With what seemed to be the Obama campaign’s complete and utter lack of
understanding towards one of the largest ethnic voting blocks in the country, we were
rightfully concerned about the lack of strategy in California. Latinos alone represented
the biggest demographic with 36% of the state’s residents and 23% of the voters,
according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
1

1
Pew Hispanic Center, “Hispanics in the 2008 Election: California,” Pew Hispanic
Center, 1 February, 2008.
http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/vote2008/California.pdf

7
“We were at a point where we just needed to do something, there was so much
need and so much that could have been done” Alma recalled in August as we drove
through Los Angeles streets remembering the election.
“The primary was important because we were nominating a leader to represent the
voice of our community, someone that knew, had lived and understood our experiences.
This wasn’t about Obama waiting for his turn; it was about doing something NOW.”
I began to remember why I supported Obama as I talked to Alma. I had a strong
desire to get involved in this presidential election. This would be just my second time
voting in a national election after having become a U.S. citizen in 2002. The Bush/Gore
campaign of 2000 left me feeling cheated by the results, and the Bush/Kerry campaign
didn’t help me feel any better. However, this time, I felt my vote was really going to
matter.
With the exception of the war in Iraq, Obama and Clinton’s records were very
similar from what I already knew. Both candidates supported the notorious extension of
the border wall along the US/Mexico border, and they were both critical of H.R 4437 (the
controversial Sensenbrenner immigration reform bill that failed to pass). Both supported
the federal Dream Act (a bill that would allow undocumented students a pathway to
citizenship via college or military enrollment) and both believed education to be the
biggest equalizer in economic disparities.

8
In late December of 2007, I remember sitting at the kitchen table of my East L.A.
apartment with a cup of coffee in hand, the sun streaming through an open window as I
googled the candidates. I logged onto Clinton’s website first and found countless images
and viewpoints. I saw a woman who had a proven record with education and healthcare
advocacy and legislation. I had met her at an event at City Hall a few months earlier as
she, alongside Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, pledged to make Los Angeles, a greener,
more environmentally sound city.
I took a picture with Clinton which I later posted on my MySpace. My mother and
grandmother loved it, framed it, and sent copies to family members in El Salvador.
Clearly, they loved Hilaria!
Jennifer Gonzalez, a friend since high school who lived a few blocks down the
street, kept telling me that I really really needed to learn more about Barack Obama. This
was at a time when Jennifer and I had just finished work on a voter registration project.
She had just completed her graduate studies at Mt. Saint Mary’s and was unemployed
and I was a part-time broadcast journalist looking for work. We took odd jobs to pay the
bills, but for the most part had plenty of time to sit around and talk politics.
“We are the ones we have been waiting for” Obama’s website declared.
There was only one video prominently displayed on the site. In the bitter cold of
Springfield, Illinois, at the old state capitol, with hats, jackets, mittens and scarves,
15,000 people withstood the frost to hear this man speak. I saw women and men, young

9
and old, of all backgrounds and of all ethnicities react to Obama’s candidacy
announcement for president of the United States.
Their emotions, their thoughts and their beliefs streamed through my laptop and
onto me, and I really didn’t notice the tears swelling in my eyes until they dropped onto
the keyboard.
At that moment I saw myself reflected in those people. Ordinary men and women
from various backgrounds who wanted to believe the words of the young senator who
said that our issues and problems as a country were not resolved because of a lack of
sound policy, but by “the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our
chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points
instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big
problems.” The immediate urgency to be honest about our faults and work towards
bettering our nation as opposed to destroying it by fear and distrust was, I admit, alluring.
My corner of the world, with its rich Latino political history dating back to Edward
Roybal, the first Mexican-American elected to the Los Angeles city council in 1949 and
who later became the first Latino elected to congress from California since 1879,
reminded me of the urgency towards bettering our nation. The “Dream With Me” mayor
who gained national recognition as the first Latino elected to the Los Angeles mayoral
seat since 1872, had declared in May 2007, he would be supporting Clinton because “she
stood out among a crowded field of Democratic hopefuls, including Illinois Sen. Barack

10
Obama, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards and New Mexico Governor Bill
Richardson” reported the Los Angeles Times at the time.
2
His endorsement brought the
support of friends in political leadership throughout Los Angeles including California
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, Assemblyman Kevin de Leon, and City Councilman
Jose Huizar to name a few. Additionally, Clinton had the support of strong Los Angeles
based Latina leaders like U.S. Rep. Hilda Solís, U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard and
First District Supervisor Gloria Molina, all of whom had a connection with East Los
Angeles and strong roots within the community.
Notwithstanding his political stature, Villaraigosa, who grew up in East L.A., was
under a microscope at the time with an unfortunate love affair and what seemed to be a
very public looming divorce. His romantic indiscretions, failed school reform attempts
and overall lack of moral character, left much to be desired in a leader and left young
people confused and distrustful about getting involved.
Perhaps it was aspirations to higher office, an allegiance to the Clinton name or
favoring the candidate that seemed most likely to win that garnered a Clinton
endorsement so early on. But the mayor who prided himself in being the first Latino
elected to the seat since 1872, failed to support the only Latino democratic presidential
hopeful, Richardson. It was clear that for the mayor and for many Latino elected leaders
throughout California and across the country, this was no time for ethnic politics or
loyalties.

2
Helfand, Duke and Hymon, Steve, “Clinton to get Villaraigosa’s Endorsement,” The
Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2007.

11
As I decided to join Alma in her organizing efforts in Monterey Park, I realized
that I was no longer involved as a journalist. I too, was involved as someone longing for
change. Our collective decision not only meant a separation and defiance from the
established political leaders of the community, but a potential burning of political ties. As
Alma put it, the chance for “hope” and “change” was worth it.
The Strategy, the Delegates and the Other Candidate
In May of 2007, five months before Obama’s first visit to California, Clinton
announced her California senior staff. Joining Villaraigosa’s personal political consultant
and Clinton State Director Ace Smith, would be Political Director Chris Lavery,
Communications Director Luis Vizcaino and Field Director Michael Trujillo.
Vizcaino had previously served as the communications and marketing director for
the Human Rights Campaign, senior communications advisor to Villaraigosa, and as the
2004 deputy director of media affairs for the Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign
responsible for twenty states. Trujillo had served as the political director for
Villaraigosa's committee on government excellence and accountability and previously
served as field director for the mayor’s city council race as well as adviser for his
mayoral race. With Vizcaino’s and Trujillo’s strong political ties, their combined
knowledge of local, state and national politics, the staff was well equipped to engage
Latino voters within Los Angeles and throughout state.

12
In mid-January, the East Los Angeles Hillary Clinton campaign headquarters
opened at a prominent location on Cesar Chavez Avenue, just a mile west of East L.A.
College, the very spot where Villaraigosa ran his mayoral campaign. Patriotic flags and
bunting hung alongside a huge banner that read “Hillary for President” right outside the
building doors.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign seemed to struggle to identify their objectives
in southern California. While they had opened a headquarters in a skyscraper west of
Downtown L.A., in an area known as Koreatown, the site lacked both parking and
visibility.
Mitchell Schwartz, an energetic veteran political operative, who had served in
nearly every presidential campaign since 1984, was announced by the campaign as the
California state director in August 2007, three months after Clinton had secured all
California senior staff. Schwartz’ brought in California field director, Buffy Wicks, a
seasoned political organizer and Edith Ramirez, a Los Angeles attorney and Obama law
school classmate who would serve as the California Latino outreach director.
Although it seemed that most of the Latino political establishment had endorsed
Clinton, once Richardson stepped down from the race, a few major endorsements went to
Obama, including Romero and state Sen. Gil Cedillo. U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra had
endorsed Obama after Iowa and Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti had
been a supporter since his announcement. However, very little was being done to utilize

13
this leadership in an effort to campaign for Obama in Los Angeles or throughout the
state. Coincidentally, with the exception of Garcetti, these Latino leaders seem to always
be on the opposite side of the political spectrum of Villaraigosa and his allies.
With the help of Maria Elena Durazo, the head of the Los Angeles County
Federation of Labor, the biggest and most powerful labor group in Los Angeles, the aptly
named “East Los Angeles Obama Volunteer Center” set roots in Monterey Park thirteen
lucky days before Super Tuesday. Durazo had announced her personal and controversial
support for Obama just three days before the Nevada caucus and had traveled to the state
to encourage Latinos to support Obama.
As the daughter of migrant farm workers from Mexico, Durazo, and her nine
siblings traveled throughout the state working in the fields as children. Despite being
compared to Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez
and now a Clinton supporter, Durazo represented a new kind of leadership for many
Latinos, one that didn’t fall in line with the status quo.
"My passion is the labor movement, and I believe very strongly that Senator
Obama is very clear about his support for workers who want to organize, workers who
want to lift themselves out of poverty, and also protect good middle-class jobs” she had
compellingly told the Los Angeles Times
3
the day after the Nevada primary.

3
Zahnser, David, “Backing Obama Costs Durazo,” The Los Angeles Times, 30 January
2008.

14
Despite California having the largest number of delegates – 370 – of any state, it
was clear that little effort was made to organize the largest ethnic group in the state. Had
the Obama campaign been more aggressive in attracting Latino supporters and taking
away Clinton delegates, they would have locked down the magical 2,118 delegates
needed to win the nomination sooner and much cleaner.
I caught up with Schwartz in May of 2009 and asked him point blank, “what
happened with Latino outreach during the primary?”
“We didn’t really have a field campaign” he admitted in an interview outside the
mid-Wilshire office where he heads his new-media political consulting firm.
The Latino vote, he adds, “wasn’t what the primary was about and we didn’t think
California was a state we could organize in time, it’s just way too big.”
Cuauhtémoc "Temo” Figueroa, who served as Obama’s national field director
during the primaries and went on to became the national Latino vote director throughout
the general election had a similar opinion with regards to Latino outreach.
“The campaign had to focus on states that would deliver the most delegates
during Super Tuesday” Figueroa said in a phone interview earlier this year. “As a
political strategy, we needed the delegates, not the popular vote.”

15
“People have to understand that’s not how you win elections” he went on. “You
win elections by first getting the nomination. That was our goal, to get as many delegates
as possible, beat Hillary, get the nomination and then really go after the popular vote.”
Despite the claim of not having time to organize California volunteers, “Camp
Obama” trainings were a huge success in the state. The brainchild of Marshall Ganz, who
was Cesar Chavez’ top organizer for many years and who now teaches political
organizing and public policy at Harvard, Camp Obamas were managed by Figueroa and
they had trained hundreds of online savvy volunteers to carry out Obama’s message in
Los Angeles. Those efforts however, were ineffective in recruiting Latino volunteers
from East Los Angeles because out of the very political group ready to organize, none of
them had heard about it.
As far as delegates are concerned, there are three different kinds of delegates in
California that really mattered as far as getting the nomination. The first group, are
delegates that are elected in congressional districts. The second are statewide delegates
that are chosen proportionally based on the total statewide vote. Lastly, there are also the
so-called Super Delegates, top elected and party officials who could support a candidate
as they wished without regard of the outcome of the primary.
To further complicate matters, not all congressional districts produced the same
number of delegates, but rather the range was from three to six, reflecting the size of the
Democratic vote in the district. Gender also played a role, as districts need to show a

16
balance. Also, the allocation rules differed between those that had even and odd numbers
of delegates. For example, if two candidates split the popular vote 51% vs. 49% in a
district with an even number of delegates, they would split the delegates evenly. A
similarly close vote in a district with an odd number of delegates would yield the winner
an extra delegate. The three congressional districts in and around East L.A., all had even
numbers of delegates.
Schwartz’ assertions that California was too large a state to organize contradicted
the effort put into the Camp Obama training sessions and the purpose of having a field
director or a Latino outreach organizer. In fact, it seems that the Obama campaign simply
got a late start in California and essentially conceded the Latino vote to Clinton. Obama’s
strategists appeared to overlook the potentially appeal of an insurgent campaign in a
population that has a long history of protest and fighting as the underdog. California, for
example, is home to the United Farm Workers, once of the most prominent farm labor
advocacy groups and Latino-led labor unions in the country. East Los Angeles is also
home to the Chicano walk-outs of the 1960’s, a movement that led hundreds of students
and parents to demand education reform for the local high schools and in 2006 Los
Angeles was the site of the largest immigration reform marches in the nation.
While Obama was busy building a movement and branding himself as the
candidate of change and hope, Latinos in Los Angeles were faced with two options; join
the Clinton campaign, whose dedication to the Latino community was a proven fact and
dated back to the economically prosperous days of her husband’s presidency, or go

17
against the grain and join an Obama campaign that while seeming distant and unknowing
of Latino political movements, carried a message of a new America.
Organizing the East L.A. Obama Volunteer Center
With thirteen days before Super Tuesday, it took about a week to get the center
going. Emotions were running high and time was running short. Alma took a leave of
absence from her duties at GreenDot and using mostly her personal money, financed the
expenses of the office.
Because the East L.A. center had been opened and was operated by volunteers, it
was referred to as a “volunteer center” by the Obama campaign headquarters and was not
considered an actual field office. We soon learned the campaign had little trust in our
efforts and was reluctant to release any information on registered Latino voters in our
community. This decision negated the volunteer center from receiving any precinct
information for door to door campaigning, severely damaging the goal of Latino
outreach. Initially, Alma was told that all volunteers needed to work out of the campaign
headquarters in Koreatown if they wanted to make calls or walk precincts.
While the Obama for America campaign had completely made use of the online
tools available, we took it upon ourselves to also use these same tools to organize young
people in the community, while carefully drawing up a plan to reach out to their families.
Primarily using MySpace (Facebook and Twitter were not as popular in February of
2008) we promoted, tagged, messaged and alerted groups within the social networks

18
about the opening of the “East L.A. Obama Volunteer Center”. We created flyers and
uploaded the images onto Photobucket, an online picture storage site that in turn provided
an HTML code. We then used that code to paste on the walls of MySpace accounts that
we had filtered to live in East Los Angeles postal zip codes. Some flyers specifically
asked for Spanish speakers and invited the entire family to join in the presidential
election.
We also used the site My.BO (My.BarackObama) to form “Latinos for Obama”
and “East L.A. Latinos for Obama” as groups’ people could join. We knew we were
targeting 1.5, 2
nd
and 3
rd
generation online Latino users in an effort to also reach their
parents. However, the online techniques only went so far, and much of the outreach still
encompassed traditional calling and good old precinct walking - and getting these
valuable sheets of information was proving difficult as the campaign seemed bent in
having all volunteers work out of the campaign headquarters. While this is standard
practice in good campaigns to target efforts and avoid duplications, volunteers at the
headquarters were not targeting the districts in East Los Angeles.
In a political coup, Alma organized Durazo, Cedillo and Becerra to pressure
headquarters into releasing the valuable precinct information, which they reluctantly did.
To assist with voter contact, the East L.A. center obtained phone lines donated by the real
estate office and several pay-as-you-go phones were purchased from the 7-11 across the
street with Alma’s credit card.

19
It was now Saturday January 26 and the office was bustling with hundreds of
volunteers that streamed through the glass doors. Latinos from as far as San Bernardino
flocked to East L.A. because they heard from a friend of a friend there was an effort
being made to outreach to Latinos.
Tamales, pan dulce and coffee were being donated by abuelitas who wanted to
help because their grandkids from East L.A. College were volunteering. People were
taking time off work to come to the center and anyone who ever questioned Latino
support towards Obama witnessed a very different scene developing. An area that hosted
about twelve cubicles was more than double occupied by volunteers. People sat on the
floors, shared space, stood to the side, leaned on walls and made calls to English and
Spanish speaking Latinos.
The following days became a fluid motion of events. The four of us, Estee,
Kristie, Suhagey and myself under the direction of Alma had specific tasks to do and
worked almost every single hour of every day to make sure the office ran as smoothly as
possible. Estee was in charge of collecting the data sheets of people called, organizing
them and redistributing lists that needed call backs. Kristie was charged with managing
precinct walkers and making sure doors were being knocked on. Suhagey was the
unofficial office manager and manned the phones, inquiries, and donations while I trained
first time volunteers on how to talk to voters and how to ask for a vote for Obama. While
these were responsibilities, we all shared them and we all made sure elected officials and
special guests were treated accordingly.

20
On Sunday January 27
th
, Caroline Kennedy published the op-ed “A President
Like My Father” in the New York Times
4
and the next day, Sen. Ted Kennedy
announced his support for Obama. There was a sense of victory in the air and much
anticipation about Obama’s next visit to Los Angeles. His last public trip had been a star-
studded evening fundraiser at the Gibson Amphitheater on December 10
th
, and prior to
that an October visit to Garfield High School where he criticized Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger for not passing Cedillo’s Dream Act, a state bill that would allow
undocumented students a pathway to college and financial aid.
Tuesday flew by and on Wednesday we got word that the next morning, Obama
would be hosting a town hall at L.A. Trade Tech College, a community college serving a
predominantly Black and Latino population located in the urban core of downtown Los
Angeles. He addressed the need for education, technical trade schools, fair wages and the
importance of believing that everyone had a right to the “American Dream.” It was here
that Latino leaders from the eastside, Becerra, Cedillo, Romero and Durazo all stood
together for the first time and voiced their support for the junior senator from Illinois.
That afternoon, as we prepared to attend the free viewing party for the presidential
debate at a restaurant bar adjacent to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, we received word
that Sen. Kennedy would arrive in Los Angeles the next day and had specifically
requested a visit to East Los Angeles College. With a long family tradition of supporting

4
Kennedy, Caroline, “A President Like My Father,” The New York Times, 27 January
2008.

21
Latino causes, Kennedy arrived with full steam the next day, singing “Jalisco No Te
Rajes” and challenging Latinos to support a candidate whose personal beliefs and morals
emulated the traditions of Latino families.
As the struggle to obtain supplies continued, a Nevada caucus worker showed up
to the center with a box full of leftover red “¡Sí Se Puede!” Obama signs. Those signs,
brought by the unknown volunteer, were the only signs in sight and they were held by
hundreds of supporters at the Kennedy rally.
Because of the attention the center was receiving from local and international
media like the French press, Asia TV, Australia and German news services, as well as
multiple visits from NBC Nightly News anchor and election correspondent Tom Brokaw,
the campaign headquarters soon had a change of heart towards the center. After we had
had to prove the dedication and commitment of Latino support towards Obama, it was
decided that the “East L.A. Obama Volunteer Center,” would be vetted as a campaign
office and there would be a “grand opening” the next day, Saturday, February 2
nd
, three
days before Super Tuesday.
The following day, La Opinion newspaper, the largest Spanish-language daily
newspaper in the U.S. that also sometimes prints editorials in English, endorsed Obama
over Clinton.
5
La Opinion argued that while Clinton had garnered significant Latino
support, her “tremendous skills and experience are not enough to inspire a feeling of

5
“The Democratic Choice is Barack Obama,” La Opinion, 1 February 2008

22
renewal in our country after eight long years of George W. Bush” and “that of the two,
Senator Barack Obama represents fundamental change in a campaign in which "change"
has become a central theme… and his inspiring vision are what the country needs to
break through the current feeling of political malaise.”
With the nonstop whirlwind of endorsements, rallies, and events, no one was
prepared for the Super Bowl of all Super Bowls, the arrival of the “Women for Obama,”
with the queen leader herself, Oprah Winfrey. Time stopped, and despite fatigue from
non-stop get out the vote (GOTV) efforts, everyone attended. On Super Bowl Sunday,
Oprah spearheaded a thundering rally of 9,000 strong at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. On
stage with her were Romero, Durazo, Bass, Caroline Kennedy and the first lady of
California, Maria Shriver.
"I thought, if Barack Obama was a state, he'd be California,” Oprah said to a
roaring crowd. "Diverse, open, smart, independent, bucks tradition. Innovative,
inspirational, dreamer, leader."
A Field Poll out that day reflected a potential tossup amongst likely voters in
Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Aside from a 13 point gender gap with women favoring
Clinton, Obama was favored 34 percent to Clinton’s 36. The excitement was contagious
and we were all feeling unbeatable.
Durazo, who had faced harsh criticism for her early support of Obama and nearly
lost her position with the labor federation, opted to take an unpaid leave of absence to

23
support her candidate. That day at UCLA, I can recall her gush as she exclaimed “I am a
free woman! I am a free woman! I am a free woman!” recounting the words that Oprah
had said in her speech.
Hindsight is Always 20/20
Over the last few months I’ve caught up with the friends that I made during this
time through various ways. I was interested in knowing what they remembered most
about those long days of campaigning.
“I remember a man stopped his car as I stood holding an Obama sign the day of
the election on Pomona Blvd. and Atlantic Blvd. and yelled at me, ‘I can't believe it,
you're a woman. You should be voting for Hillary!” recalls Kristie in an email to me.
“LOL” she wrote, “I yelled back at him, ‘I can't believe that because I AM a
woman, you think I HAVE to vote for Hillary!” When the light turned green she added,
she yelled “Go Obama!”
“Everything was just really crazy” Suhagey recalled over the phone. “Remember
the day of the election I went out with the lawyers to make sure people could vote? Voter
fraud was on everyone’s mind.”
“And people on the street were SO rude!” she went on with a bit of annoyance in
her voice, “they kept yelling we were traitors because we supported Obama and not
Hillary! What was up with that?! Traitors to who?!”

24
Estee remembered how difficult it was for her to stay calm. “It was hard not to
react” she told me when I caught up with her in Washington DC earlier this year.
“Peoples worst sides came out during the primary. People that you would never think
would do or say anything remotely racist where showing their true colors. That was just
really sad.”
On Super Tuesday, as volunteers were sent out to do visibility with Obama
posters to wave at cars at the major intersections of East Los Angeles, Kristie recalled
visibility groups being harassed by a group of Clinton supporters, “but law enforcement
was nearby,” she wrote in her email, “and because our volunteers were at that post first,
they asked the Hillary supporters to leave.”
“What was really interesting,” recollected Suhagey, “were the Clinton supporters
that were standing on the corners of major streets in East L.A., they were immigrant non-
English speaking day laborers, and all they did was hold Hillary posters.”
“I approached one,” she continued, “and he told me he got $20 to stand there with
the sign.”
For many, the primary wasn’t just about a candidate of choice, the Obama/Clinton
rivalry within the Democratic Party and within the East L.A. community was divisive,
bitter and personal. Generationally, East L.A. saw a division amongst families, parents
who supported Clinton, while their kids supported Obama. Clinton had visited East Los
Angeles with the mayor, ate at local restaurants and made East L.A. her home, while

25
Obama paid only one visit to the local high school and was never seen from again.
Obama supporters argued that while visiting a town was important, the Clinton message
lacked authenticity and was patronizing to Latino culture.
“It was a complete test for everyone” Alma recalled in our drive, “We were
fighting to make sure our voices were represented, whether people liked it or not. That’s
why what we did mattered.”
Going in with no resources, no money and no staff, we knew we had little support
from the campaign headquarters, we knew it would be a battle all the way through, and
regrettably and perhaps subconsciously, we knew that Obama would loose California.
But we didn’t care.
On February 5
th
, members of the East Los Angeles community cast their votes for
the Democratic nominee, and volunteers gathered from 5 a.m. until the last poll closed.
History will remember a day when the candidate of HOPE and CHANGE lost big in the
golden state.
Obama was crushed in the three congressional districts surrounding East Los
Angeles. In U.S Rep. Xavier Becerra’s (CD 31) it was 63.4 vs. 34.1, in U.S Rep. Hilda S
Solís’ (CD 32) it was 71.3 vs. 24.5, and in U.S Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard’s (CD 34) it
was 72.7 vs. 24, all favoring Clinton. In spite of the tremendous last ditch efforts, East
L.A. is where Obama lost the worst compared to any other part of California.

26
But not all was lost. If we accomplished anything through California’s Super
Tuesday, it was the introduction of Barack Obama to one of the most driven and active
Latino political communities in the nation. There were many people involved in the East
L.A. effort, their struggles, passion and courage is very well remembered and despite
loosing, looking back, I’m sure everyone would do it all over.
We proved that what mattered, was that we set out to GOTV for the candidate we
believed in, proved that Latinos did support him throughout the primary and that bringing
HOPE to East Los Angeles was more than just a slogan, HOPE was about continuing a
resistance against the status quo. In the words of Oprah, “we followed our own truth” and
that truth led us to Barack Obama. And much like I had been moved by a video early in
the campaign, as the dust settled and after the Super Tuesday battle was over, I saw
myself in an Obama for America video recorded in East Los Angeles.
In the months that followed, the five of us traveled to the Lone Star State to push
the Latino vote in Texas. Alma later went on to become the California Latino vote
director and organized thousands of people statewide to travel to the swing-state of
Nevada for GOTV in the general election in a program she spearheaded called “Obama
Nos Llama Caravanas”. Kristie entered graduate school at California State University
Los Angeles, and Estee was accepted to graduate school at George Washington
University, Suhagey was hired as a legal fellow at Munger, Tolls & Olsen LLP, a Los
Angeles based A-List law firm. I was able to travel to the Democratic National
Convention by winning an online contest called “Crash the Parties!” with Voto Latino

27
and the SiTV Network and went on to graduate school at the University of Southern
California where this story is being submitted as my thesis.
And now, as Barack Obama sits as President of the United States of America, we
can look back with pride and say we helped make that happen, followed by, Mr.
President, we will hold you accountable.

28
References
ABC News. Primary Results by State
http://abcnews.go.com/politics/elections/state?state=NV&ref=ipb

DiCamillo, Mark and Field, Mervin. Field Poll #2264. “California’s presidential primary:
Strong late surge for Obama. Trails Clinton by just two points. McCain leads Romney by
eight points in the GOP primary,” February 03, 2008.

Editorial, “The Democratic choice is Barack Obama,” La Opinion, February 1, 2008

Figueroa, Cuauhtémoc (national field director, Obama for America). Phone Interview.
April 16, 2008.

Helfand, Duke and Hymon, Steve. “Clinton to get Villaraigosa’s endorsement,” The Los
Angeles Times, May 30, 2007.
http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/30/local/me_mayor30

Hernandez, Kristie. Email Exchange. January 2009.

Kennedy, Caroline. “A President Like My Father,” The New York Times, January 27,
2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.html

Sepulveda, Este. Personal Interview. November 2008.

Marquez, Alma. Personal Interview. August 2009.

Pew Hispanic Center, “Hispanics in the 2008 Election: California,” Pew Hispanic Center,
1 February, 2008, Accessed 15 August, 2008.
http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/vote2008/California.pdf

Pew Hispanic Center. “State Fact Sheets: Hispanics in the 2008 Election” March 07,
2008.
http://pewhispanic.org/factsheets/factsheet.php?FactsheetID=40

Sandoval, Suhagey. Personal Interview. August 2009.

Secretary of State, Statement of Vote: 2008 Primary Election: Democratic President by
Congressional District
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2008_primary/contents.htm#sov

29
Shwartz, Mitchell (California state director, Obama for America). Personal Interview.
June 8, 2009.

Taylor, Paul and Fry, Richard. “Hispanics and the 2008 Election: A Swing Vote?” Pew
Hispanic Center. March 07, 2008
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=83

Zahnser, David. “Backing Obama costs Durazo,” The Los Angeles Times, January 30,
2008.
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/30/local/me-labor30

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The 2008 election of Barack Obama was a historic moment in the history of the United States. During the primary season many Americans pondered the notion of a female or an African American president. In the working class community of East Los Angeles, under the leadership of a community organizer and single mother and with virtually no resources, a coalition of women opened the “East Los Angeles Obama Volunteer Center” just weeks before the Democratic primary and challenged the overwhelming support that Sen. Hillary Clinton then enjoyed among Los Angeles Latinos and especially Latino elected officials. The efforts made in East Los Angeles for Obama during the California primary were not based on race or gender, but grew out of a firm belief that Obama would be a guiding force in changing the course of the nation. The small but steady mobilization in East Los Angeles towards the lesser known candidate demonstrated the various layers of Latino political involvement and showcased a very real need for change.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Carrillo, Wendy (author)

Core Title East Los Angeles and the primary race of presidential hopeful Barack Obama

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Journalism (Specialized)

Publication Date 10/07/2009

Defense Date 09/11/2009

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 2008 election,2008 primary,Barack Obama,campaign,election,grassroots,Hispanic,Latinas,Latino,North America,OAI-PMH Harvest,organizing,Politics,Women

Place Name California (states), Los Angeles (city or populated place)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Suro, Roberto (committee chair), Gutierrez, Felix Frank (committee member), Ramirez, Ricardo (committee member)

Creator Email wcarrill@usc.edu,wmcarrillo@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m2647

Unique identifier UC1503984

Identifier etd-Carrillo-3286 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-257822 (legacy record id),usctheses-m2647 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Carrillo-3286.pdf

Dmrecord 257822

Document Type Project

Rights Carrillo, Wendy

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu