RIALTO & OAKLAND

By Chris Levister

Haddie Mae Sanders is a dyed-in-the-wool lifelong Democrat. Her Rialto family room is awash with party memorabilia. But on November 7 Saunders will break rank.

"I plan to vote for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Photo by Chris Levister - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visits with Melba Thorn, a clinical art therapist in Oakland. Many Black and Latino voters say he has recast himself as a centrist.

Election watchers call Schwarzenegger's rising popularity among minorities a watershed  moment considering as much as 85 percent of African-American voters nationwide choose Democrats, a staunch loyalty solidified over generations with landmark issues such as voting rights, equal opportunity in education and employment, support for social programs and health care for the poor.

One reason is that the state gubernatorial race is lacking a hot-button issue or the kind of political fireworks that make regular voters stand up and pay attention. Others like Hardy Brown, president of the California Black Media, a coalition of 40 Black-owned newspapers, (including the Black Voice News) magazines and radio stations that reach 1.2 million consumers statewide, believe the Democratic Party is widely viewed as  taking the minority vote for granted.

"I don't think they've done their homework to see if our needs have been met. They've put the minority vote on the margins," Brown told the San Francisco Chronicle. The BVN joined several other minority publishers this month in recommending that voters cast their votes for Schwarzenegger.

"There's an on going dialogue that demonstrates he is genuinely interested," Brown said.

"It goes a long way and has generated discussion in our communities."

By contrast critics of Treasurer Phil Angelides whose campaign trails Schwarzenegger's in the double digits, claims he has failed to connect with ethnic-minorities on critical issues such as education, fair housing, taxes, and immigration.

"There's a disconnect," says Sasha, Saunder's 22 year-old daughter, a UC Riverside student.  "I feel that Democrats figure they have the Black vote wrapped up, so they don't have to constantly earn our trust and support."

The Schwarzenegger campaign is capitalizing on voters like the Saunders' to woo Democrats who might consider crossing party lines. The governor rode as the grand marshal of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo in July. He met with Black publishers and has made a point of stumping for votes in Black neighborhoods and Black churches.

He has also made significant inroads in traditionally Democratic Latino enclaves. Last week several Spanish language newspapers featured Schwarzenegger in photo-ops on personal appearances in heavily Latino cities like Montebello and Southgate.

Meanwhile Angelides campaign official Sam Rodriguez scoffs at Schwarzenegger's campaign tactics.

"He can't be trusted. He'll say just about anything he needs to say, appear anywhere he needs to appear, as long as he doesn't take questions."

Some Angelides supporters call Schwarzenegger a master of disguise masquerading as a moderate Democrat in Republican clothing. "He's married to a Kennedy. He's a contradiction in terms," says Fatina Sosa.  She says "Angelides will stand up for working poor and middle class people. Schwarzenegger has ties to big business."             

While Haddie and Sasha Saunders have declared their personal support for Schwarzenegger, they and other Blacks and Latinos are quick to point out a vote for Schwarzenegger is not a vote for the Republican Party.

In fact many of those same voters plan to sack the Republican controlled Congress.

Sasha feels minority voters have a unique opportunity to break rank with decades of blind loyalty.

"The smart voter is the fellow who chooses the candidate who at the time is the best person for the job and rejoices that the election process works," she says.