Latinos filling more high-level government jobs
By Richard S. Dunham
San Francisco Chronicle

Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court has focused national attention on her Latino heritage and the history-making nature of her selection.
 
But the bright spotlight on Sotomayor has obscured a highly significant shift in the ways of Washington: President Obama has selected far more Hispanics for his administration than any previous president in American history.
 
Latinos comprise 11 percent of the new president's first 300 nominees for senior administration positions requiring Senate confirmation, according to the White House.
 
That shatters the 5.5 percent mark set by former President George W. Bush during the first 18 months of his presidency, according to Office of Management and Budget statistics. Bush had broken the previous record held by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, who filled 4.5 percent of his confirmable positions with Hispanic nominees.
 
In addition to 33 positions requiring Senate confirmation, Obama has chosen 26 Latinos for White House staff jobs -more than any of his predecessors.
 
Obama's Latino wave is a stark reminder of the increasing clout of the nation's fast-growing and largest minority group. But it also reflects a Hispanic power shift from Texas to California. Of the top Latinos in the Obama administration, 21 have connections to the Golden State, while 14 boast Texas ties - a reversal from Bush and Clinton days.
 
Civil rights advocates hail the rapid increase in Latino employment in the West Wing and beyond.
 
Reflecting reality
 
"This is a new America," said Simon Rosenberg, CEO of the Democratic group NDN, which specializes in demographic and technological change. "America is going through one of the most profound demographic transformations in all of its history. The Obama administration is simply reflecting the emerging reality of America in the early 21st century."
 
But the record-setting pace of appointments reflects more than simple demographics. It also reflects the complexity of a president who proudly calls himself an American "mutt" - a biracial president, the son of an immigrant, a person who has experienced racism and benefited from affirmative action. And it demonstrates the growing political clout of a coveted and pivotal voting bloc that has trended strongly Democratic in the past two national elections.
 
"Very deliberately, they set out to pull in a very diverse administration," said Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
 
But the administration remains sensitive to charges from some conservative commentators that it has elevated diversity over competence.
 
"None of these people have been chosen for their positions for any reason other than that they were the best person available for that position," said Luis Miranda, a senior White House aide.
 
Many of Bush's top Hispanic aides had worked for him during his six years as Texas governor, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza and Assistant Commerce Secretary Israel Hernandez.
 
Clinton's Latino network included a group of Mexican Americans who worked with him in Texas during the 1972 George McGovern presidential campaign and others who assisted him in his rise to national prominence in neighboring Arkansas.
 
California shift
 
But Obama did not have a similar relationship with Texas. As a result, California - a state with 13.2 million Latinos - has become the state with the largest number of Hispanic appointees.
 
The president's personnel picks were the survivors of an arduous staffing process that began in the early days of the transition. Former Clinton Cabinet member Federico Pena, a Texas native who later became Denver mayor, and Frank Sanchez, who landed a top job at the Commerce Department, reached out to Latino groups and elected officials to seek candidates for administration positions.
 
But Obama made clear at a meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that he wasn't looking for political hacks.
 
"He said, 'I'm looking for excellence and I'm looking for diversity,' " said Rep. Charles Gonzalez, D-Texas, vice chairman of the Hispanic Caucus. "He didn't want just 'qualified' people. He wanted people who had distinguished themselves."
 
Some Latino groups say they will keep pushing until the entire federal workforce mirrors the national population.
 
"This is only the beginning," said Rafael Fantauzzi, president of the National Puerto Rican Coalition Inc.
 
"Here's our goal: 15 percent of the population of the U.S. is Hispanic. We want our federal agencies to be 15 percent Hispanic.
 
"We are not yet satisfied."

June 14, 2009