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.”

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