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Mike Honda to use DNC to reach out to minorities

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  • Mike Honda to use DNC to reach out to minorities

    Honda to use DNC to reach out to minorities
    By Hans Nichols

    The Hill, DC
    Feb 15 2005

    Rep. Mike Honda plans to use his new high-profile role as a vice
    chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to tap the
    Asian-American community for more than $5 million and cultivate new
    immigrant communities for his party, all while serving as a "bridge"
    between Chairman Howard Dean and House Democrats.
    File photo
    Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), new DNC vice chairman


    Honda bested Alvaro Cifuentes, the outgoing DNC Hispanic Caucus
    chairman, for the one remaining DNC executive slot available to a
    male. In the campaign, Honda earned endorsements from two of his
    onetime rivals, fellow Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Nelson Diaz, a
    Puerto Rican political operative.

    Honda's election to the executive committee also marked a victory for
    House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who offered an early
    endorsement for the third-term Californian and then redoubled her
    efforts on his behalf once it became clear that Dean had secured the
    chairmanship.

    That reenergized effort by Pelosi to insinuate herself into a DNC
    process she had mostly skirted led party strategists and delegates to
    conclude that the House's top Democrat wanted a trusted loyalist on
    an executive committee chaired by Dean.

    Both Pelosi's office and Honda downplayed any suggestion that Honda
    was intended to be a check on Dean's power. But that view was
    widespread among Democratic strategists, both by backers of
    Cifuentes's candidacy and by nonaligned operatives.

    Honda said that he understood that he would spend much of his time
    acting as a liaison between Dean and elected lawmakers in part
    because he owed his election to the support he received from his
    House colleagues, particularly Hispanics and African-Americans.

    "The fact that other members of Congress were very helpful and they
    called their delegates … that the Hispanic members, the
    African-American members went to work for me and they all went to
    their base really worked in the end, that interconnectivity helped my
    candidacy," said Honda. "That's why I'll be a bridge."

    He said that he did not expect any friction between Dean and Pelosi
    to arise but that, if it did, he would serve as a mediator.

    "I think Pelosi and Dean have their personal relationship. I am
    committed to making sure that I do my part, in communicating what the
    DNC is doing to my colleagues," Honda said.

    Despite Honda's fluent Spanish, some prominent Hispanics said his
    election would complicate the Democrats' efforts to stanch the flow
    of Hispanic voters to the Republican Party.

    "The fact that that position is not held by a Hispanic makes it more
    difficult to reach out. Fortunately, Congressman Honda does speak
    Spanish," said the leader of the Puerto Rican Senate, Kenneth
    McClintock, a strong Cifuentes backer.

    Honda said that he would be aggressive in reaching out to the
    Hispanic community, though he admitted he was "concerned" by recent
    Republican gains among Hispanic voters.

    "It concerns me that they are working so hard," Honda said. "We have
    to make sure that our message is clear. If you look at their actions,
    and their words, there's a disconnect."

    In addition to focusing on Hispanic outreach, Honda, who is
    Japanese-American, said that he plans to scour the Asian-American
    business community, especially on the West Coast, for donations.

    The DNC should raise more than the $5 million it raked from
    Asian-Americans last cycle, Honda said, adding that it was "hard to
    say" what the ceiling was because "we haven't really energized that
    community."

    Honda said he also will target other communities: "I want to look at
    developing new groups, like the Ethiopians and the Armenians, and
    connecting these folks with our party."

    Pelosi will meet with Honda today when she stops by the Asian Pacific
    Islander American caucus retreat. Honda chairs that group, giving him
    one of the most demanding briefs in the Democratic caucus.

    "All the hats that I wear, they have the same ends — increasing the
    visibility and raising the profile of [the minority] community,"
    Honda said.

    "Mike has the proven experience of working with the many
    constituencies that are critical to the future success of our
    Democratic Party, and will be a bridge-builder between the important
    communities we rely on to secure progress and victory," Pelosi said
    in a statement. "Mike knows what it takes to restore Democrats to
    majority status, and is prepared to take on that challenge with his
    typical enthusiasm and resolve."

    --Boundary_(ID_XAhzp9ZEx+3iorON0mlmNA)--
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