Obama's Play for Indian Country
Washington Dispatch: Barack Obama has vowed to expand the electoral map for the Dems. Turning out the politically neglected Native American vote may be the key to doing so.
October 27, 2008
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If Barack Obama wins New Mexico on November 4, he may want to thank Wizipan Garriott, the vote director of what the Obama campaign calls its "First Americans" voter outreach program. The effort targets the politically neglected but heavily Democratic Native American vote, which Obama strategists believe could be critical to putting some historically red states into play for Obama.
The Obama campaign is reluctant to discuss the details of its ground game, but it's clear the campaign's Native American outreach strategy is extensive. The campaign has two Chicago-based staffers devoted to coordinating the nationwide effort, and Garriott has recruited locals on reservations around the country to serve as paid organizers. Montana, Alaska, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Mexico have all been targeted at points in the campaign.
"If you're going to compete in traditionally red states as a Democrat, if you're going to expand the electoral map, then you're going to have to compete in places where native voices are of some considerable significance," says Keith Harper, a member of the Cherokee Nation who serves as the chair of Obama's Native American Policy Committee. "From time to time has a Democratic candidate opened an office on a reservation? Yes. But we have native outreach directors in numerous states. Before, it was hit or miss, little bit here, little bit there. Right now it's a comprehensive effort."
One of Obama's signature promises during the primary was that he could expand the electoral map for Democrats. And the Obama campaign sees an opening to do so in several reliably red states in the American West that have sizable Native American populations. Native Americans make up only about 1 percent of the population in the crucial swing states of Nevada and Colorado. But they're a significant presence in North Dakota (4.8 percent) and Montana (6.4 percent). And Indian country comprises nearly 10 percent of the population of New Mexico, which George W. Bush won by only a few thousand votes in 2004.
"Within many of these western states, particularly those who have over the last couple decades elected Republicans, one of the ways in which Democrats have been competitive is to ensure that they have been responsive to tribal communities," Harper says. "Democrats who have made a concerted effort to reach out to Indian country have solidified their base."
Mary Bowannie, a lecturer in Native American studies at the University of New Mexico who teaches a course called "The Native Vote," says she's noticed the Obama campaign has placed more of an emphasis on Native American voters than past Democratic candidates. "There's really been a push to get out the vote in Native American communities," she says. "There's a lot of participation and excitement. When [John] Kerry ran, he had people on the ground, but it was very much focused on getting the tribal leadership behind them. They did have some focus on community and getting out the vote, but not as much as they have recently."
It seems that the Obama campaign may be making its move for the Indian vote at just the right time, too. George Hardeen, the communications director for Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., who has endorsed Obama, says that Navajos appear to be paying more attention to politics this year than ever before: "Access to information in a place as geographically isolated as the Navajo Nation is as great as it ever has been, and that alone has moved the message in. So even traditional Navajo people like my mother-in-law, who speaks no English...she knows who Obama is, and she knows who John McCain is. They're not watching Fox and CNN, but they are forming opinions."
Next page: One race in particular exemplifies this bloc's ability to determine an election...
Note: To listen to Navajos talk about the presidential election or see Rebecca M. Ford’s photos of Navajo Nation, go here.
but on the flipside, all the neos gettin guns now cant & couldent pass a brady so im not feeling bad in any way. those psychos dont deserve to own firearms its a privilege that citizens once enjoyed, now any felon can buy a gun anywhere in tx so sad, im a registered republican & ashamed to say that! there are no true conservatives anymore just neo-jerkers
who call themselves conservative & churches want you to vote that way, i thought voteing was a right for law abideing CITIZENS OF AMERICA? not anymore now church votes neo, and so
does most of the so called conservative party that put bush/cheney in, now even NON AMERICANS & CRIMINALS can REGISTER to VOTE IF THEY REGISTER REPUBLICAN!!!this
really shows you where our country & the republican lawmakers have gone, might as well call the republican party the skinheads cause thats the beliefs that are followed by republicans now i guess, in america, crime really does pay just ask WALL st. the banking system, and of course their
GODS BUSH / CHENEY & THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!! WHERES THE DEVIL ??? IN CONGRESS & THE WHITE HOUSE & of course crawford tx.
And maybe we can find a way forward which lets Native American people keep Native American values intact-- family, community, helping each other, sharing, teaching, mentoring across generations and across families, and being resourceful, respectful, innovative, stewardly, etc.
However, I am also sad to see this article, which I liked overall, neglect the issues many tribes have with Palin's environmental policies. I think it's a valid point to make that while McCain did well with tribes, his VP pick undid those points for him. As governor of a state with many tribal communities, I think it speaks volumes that she does not have their support.
I'm going Libertarian.
The rest of you can have Bush-Clone & Bush-Lite if you want 'em.
www.blackmesais.org/
Go here to read more about it - you will be horrified.
John McCain has been a primary sponsor of legislation that set a new timetable for the forced relocation of a number of Dineh (Navajo) families who continue to live on their ancestral homelands of Black Mesa, AZ. During the 109th Congress McCain sponsored Senate Bill 1003, an amendment of the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-531, the relocation law), prematurely terminates the Federal government’s responsibilities towards those who “have lived through the nightmare of relocation” as testified by Navajo Nation president Joe Shirley Jr. Furthermore, S1003 disclaims any further federal responsibility for the relocatees and refuses to acknowledge the long lasting damage to the community and current need for rehabilitation and support. Although this legislation thankfully stalled on the House floor in April 2007, there are growing concerns that if McCain becomes the next U.S. president, S1003 would be at the forefront of the whitehouse agenda. The coal companies have a long history of and continue to fund both the Republican and Democratic parties because they have huge interests at stake. Read more about John McCain’s involvement with relocation on Black Mesa.
http://blackmesais.org/
i'm glad to see this article. i find it hard to understand why native americans would vote for mccain. i truly believe that obama is striving to change this government, to have it represent and support all of its citizens. i just don't see that with mccain. especially not with palin on the ticket.