Prince William County

Last night I spent some time talking with Adalid, a hard working Bolivian immigrant, home owner and head of a large household in Prince William County, Virginia. Adalid has been following the primary cycle very closely. He watched the debates this last Saturday, both the Republican and Democratic debates.

He has watched previous debates and has misgivings about what the Republican party and others may or may not attempt to do in the Dirty Tricks category in the next several months. But most of all, he knows that the Republican party is not an option for members of the Latino community because of their narrow-minded and mean spirited actions and tactics employed during the immigration debates of the 2006 congressional cycle.

"Nos hirieron muy profundamente," explains Adalid.

But the Democratic party must not take the Latino vote for granted, as it did in 2004. Senior Democratic advisers to the Kerry campaign have long stated in Washington circles that the coordinated campaign did not do enough to court and turn out the Latino vote in that cycle. We cannot afford to repeat that mistake in 2008. Not because we need the Democratic candidate to win the election.

Because it's an investment in the future of the amount of political power that Latinos will be able to exercise on behalf of the party in the next 30 years, and on their own behalf.