‘American’ politics in a nutshell
What will it take for a Democratic presidential candidate to win the support of California superdelegate Steven Ybarra?
Say, $20 million.
The Democratic National Committee member doesn’t parse his words when it comes to what he wants from Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton–an ironclad promise to spend that heady amount to register Mexican-American voters and get them to the polls in November.
In a telephone interview Wednesday, he said he plans to remain undecided in the tight contest until “someone shows me the money.”
When will he settle on a candidate?
“Nobody showed me any money yet,” he said.
He’s not kidding. To Ybarra, a Sacramento lawyer, the stakes are no less than winning the presidency in November.
He predicted that as many as 1.3 million Mexican-Americans could be added to voter rolls in New Mexico, Colorado, Florida and other swing states, a potentially decisive edge for the eventual Democratic nominee.
With that investment of funds, Mexican-Americans would realize Democratic leaders “care about us,” Ybarra said, referring to Mexican-Americans.
Is $20 million a lot to ask?
In 2004, “they spent a billion to lose,” he said.