Does Velazquez Still Think Obama Can't 'Connect' with Hispanics?

Rep. Nydia Velazquez was hardly the only Hillary Clinton supporter to do something like this, but she was certainly the most vocal among New York’s congressional delegation: As the primary season was winding down, Velazquez – in an effort to prop up Clinton’s vice-presidential prospects – went before the press and declared that Barack Obama and his campaign had "a problem of connecting with Latino voters."

Clinton would solve this problem for Obama, Velazquez said, because “the Latino community sees her as a Hispanic leader.” Not even other Hispanic leaders, like Bill Richardson, could help Obama overcome this supposed obstacle, Velazquez said.

But now we have this: a stream of polls over the last few weeks all showing that Obama’s much-ballyhooed “Hispanic problem” is a myth. Clinton may have fared better than Obama among Hispanics during the primaries, but now Obama is running much better among Hispanics than John Kerry did in ’04 and at least as well as Al Gore did in 2000. A new Gallup poll puts Obama 30 points ahead of John McCain – 59 to 29 percent – among Hispanics, a finding that is consistent with other recent polls. And he leads by similar margins in states in the Southwest where Hispanics make up a large chunk of the electorate.

I emailed Velazquez’s office earlier today and asked if the congresswoman is now satisfied that Obama does not have a problem “connecting” with Hispanics – and if, as a result, it might not be as essential that he offer his V.P. slot to Clinton. They have yet to respond.