Sen. Martin
Sandoval (D-Chicago) was one of just a tiny handful of Illinois Democratic
state legislators who backed Hillary Clinton's presidential bid over the local
favorite Barack Obama.
Sandoval's
district and most of Chicagoland's Latino precincts went for Clinton in the
February primary, so it was probably a smart move. Plus, Sandoval has been
engaged in a full-blown Statehouse war with Senate President Emil Jones for
well over a year, so backing Clinton against Jones' political Godson had its "stick
in the eye" advantages.
Unsurprisingly,
Clinton's defeat hasn't automatically put Sandoval in the Obama camp.
Sandoval
met privately with Republican presidential candidate John McCain last week, and
he told the Associated Press the next day that he was leaving open the
possibility of endorsing the man.
Sandoval
told me last week that the meeting went well, and said McCain promised to be an
advocate for Latino issues. McCain, Sandoval said, did not ask him for an
endorsement, but did ask that they continue to meet, which Sandoval agreed to
do.
McCain was
also apparently aware that Sandoval was on the outs with many of his Senate
Democratic colleagues because of the fight with Senate President Jones, and
McCain used that division to his advantage during the meeting.
Immigration
reform has been a political problem for McCain. His push last year for a
bipartisan solution to the situation earned him heaps of scorn from the right
wing of his party and just about killed off his candidacy. He started to gain
ground around the time that he flipped a bit on the issue.
McCain
reminded Sandoval that the last president to do anything major about
immigration reform was a Republican, Ronald Reagan. Sandoval claimed McCain
told him that the immigration issue would be "one of the hallmarks of my
presidency." Reagan's immigration policy included an amnesty program for
those here illegally, but McCain never uttered the "A" word.
"I'm a
Democrat, but I'm not wedded to any political party," Sandoval told me.
"You need to reach out to us, meet with us, make us part of the strategy.
If that's not there then I'm not with them," he said of Obama's campaign.
Sen.
Sandoval dismissed a recent poll of 800 Latino voters in 21 states that showed
Obama with a huge 60-23 lead over McCain, claiming that the numbers would be a
lot closer once Latino voters were in the privacy of the voting booth.
Sandoval
also dismissed Obama's recent hiring of Chicago Latina leader Patti Solis
Doyle, who was forced out of the Clinton campaign after several missteps.
If hiring
Doyle, the sister of a Chicago alderman, is Obama's "gesture to the
community," Sandoval said, that won't be nearly enough. Obama, he said,
"needs to reach out to Latino community leaders, people like myself, and
have a dialogue."
Ms. Doyle's
brother, 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis, teamed up with Ald. Manny Flores a
couple of years ago to back a primary candidate against Sen. Sandoval, which
probably explains Sandoval's harsh attitude towards Doyle (Clinton's personal
touch likely overcame this problem for Sandoval). Sandoval has been a longtime
supporter of the now largely invisible but still existent Hispanic Democratic
Organization, and Ald. Solis has been at war with the HDO for the past few
years.
There's
little doubt that McCain would love to have a Democratic legislator from
Obama's home state on his campaign team. The propaganda advantages would be
enormous, regardless of the reasons for Sandoval's defection.
Right now,
though, Sandoval is still hesitant to make the big move, while blatantly
telegraphing his message to Obama that his needs ought to be considered.
Sandoval's
flirtation with McCain while his hand is stretched outwards (palms up) towards
Obama isn't a particularly new thing in politics. It's as old as politics
itself.
But it's a
marvelous confluence of opportunities for Sandoval. He can help himself either
way he chooses. He can be the shining star of McCain's Latino outreach effort,
or secure some influence within the Obama campaign, while sticking it to his
nemesis Emil Jones yet again no matter what he does.
Cynical?
Yep. Opportunistic? Oh, yeah. But that's hardball politics, my friends.
Come to
think of it, there is one downside. The Obama campaign could dirty Sandoval up
in an effort to make him too radioactive for McCain. That would be the
"Chicago Way."
We'll see
how it goes.
Rich Miller
also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and
thecapitolfaxblog.com.