Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Maria Elena Durazo on Barack Obama

Los Angeles labor leader Maria Elena Durazo had this to say about her support for Sen. Barack Obama:


"My passion is the labor movement, and I believe very strongly that Sen. Obama is very clear about his support for workers who want to organize, workers who want to lift themselves out of poverty, and also protect good middle-class jobs."

"On a personal level, he really embodies the slogan we use a lot, Cesar Chavez's ', se puede.' (Yes, we can.") He has proved it by the way he inspires voters, the way he mobilizes."


Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University says Durazo "symbolizes the new power in Los Angeles and in California -- the marriage of Latinos and labor."

"And when you have those numbers, that organization and those volunteers, it makes an impact. There is no person in all of California who could get more people out to the street to go do something, either to march or get the vote out."

Durazo's son, a senior in high school, played a role in her final decision. "He said, 'In the end, Mom, it's the chance of a lifetime.' For him to say that means a lot. It's true."

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