SAN ANTONIO — SAN ANTONIO -- With the Democratic presidential nomination on the line, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are competing all out for Hispanic votes in next week's pivotal Texas primary.
The race in this state is a dead heat, polls show, and even former President Bill Clinton says his wife must win to keep her hopes alive. Clinton campaign officials acknowledge that she needs heavy backing from Latinos, expected to cast more than one in three Democratic ballots.
Obama doesn't need to dominate the Hispanic vote in the March 4 primary, but he has to chip away at Clinton's support. There are indications he is doing that, though the state's Hispanic voters are still more familiar with Clinton.
"Once you make contact with Texas Latinos, it's very hard to move them, particularly when they can't distinguish policy differences between the candidates," said Henry Flores, a political scientist at St. Mary's University in San Antonio.
But "the more they see him, the better he may be able to do," added Flores, noting that Obama is outspending Clinton on TV ads in heavily Hispanic South Texas, which could erode her edge.
Tensions between black and brown Americans - in competition for jobs or minority power status, for example - have been mentioned as one of the reasons Obama has struggled to win Hispanic votes this year. Another factor, widely remarked upon by Latino analysts and ordinary voters, is the matriarchal nature of Hispanic culture, which may favor a female candidate.
Clinton is also helped by the history she and her husband have in Texas, dating from their experience in 1972 as organizers for George McGovern's presidential campaign. As the New York senator courts Hispanics, Clinton often refers to her work registering Latino voters that year.
"I lived here in San Antonio for three months," she said. "It's where I became addicted to Mexican food and mango ice cream."
Obama has followed her into the same areas, stopping Friday in the Rio Grande Valley, along the border with Mexico, one of the most heavily Hispanic regions in the U.S. The Illinois senator highlighted issues that he's using in his outreach to Latinos: making college more affordable, protecting homeowners against the subprime crisis and expanded health care coverage.
Largest minority
