DNC minority delegates push to get out the vote

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Four years ago, the enthusiasm of minority and young voters played a key role in Barack Obama's historic presidential victory. That excitement has tapered off, but minority delegates to the Democratic National Convention this week said it has been transformed into something just as powerful: obligation.

"The subliminal message everyone recognizes is, 'I might not get the chance to vote again for a person whom I identify with on so many issues,' " said Carrié Solages, a Nassau County legislator from Elmont who just opened an Obama headquarters in Valley Stream precisely to pump up minority and youth turnout not only in New York but also, through phone calls, in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

"It's different now because last time we were making history," Solages said. "That same excitement might not be there now, but the obligation is there."

This year, minority and young voters who voted for Obama in 2008 will be voting for themselves, Solages said. "So many people realized that Barack Obama made it possible for people like me to get elected," the first-term legislator said.

Getting minorities to the polls is crucial for Obama supporters. In fact, some analysts believe a low minority turnout could doom the president in his battle against Republican Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.

Some forecasts say the outcome hinges on whether turnout will be like it was in 2008, when minorities represented 27 percent of the vote and a Democrat won the presidency, or like in 2004, when the minorities constituted 23 percent of the turnout and a Republican won.

In 2008, Obama reportedly received about 95 percent of the African-American vote and roughly two-thirds of votes from Hispanics. That was a higher percentage than the Democrats' 2004 candidate, John Kerry, received from minorities -- and another reason behind Obama's victory.

Romney has tried to make inroads with Hispanics, but Democrats believe immigration issues will keep most Hispanic voters in Obama's corner.

Numerous African-American delegates said it's vital to build a "ground operation" to make sure minority voters go to the polls. "We have to push voters who came out to vote for the first time in '08 to make them come out again," said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens). "We have to make them understand it's not just a one-time affair."

Meeks, whose new congressional district will include Valley Stream, Elmont and Inwood in Nassau County, said black leaders didn't have to expend much effort in 2008 to get out the vote.

"The difference is [in 2008], we didn't have to pull them out. They were going to come out," Meeks said. "This time, we have to go get them."

Sens. Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Yonkers) and John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) said focus on the election seems to be growing in the barbershops, beauty salons and senior centers they visit.

"It's about the grass roots," Stewart Cousins said. "There is a ground game that is happening that will push the turnout."

Solages said the Obama headquarters has been making calls to Pennsylvania voters and will soon add Ohio. He said a similar "Obama camp" will soon open in Hempstead. He said he won't have to wait until the night of the election to know if their effort at recruiting minority voters was successful.

"If I go to my polling site at 7 a.m. on Election Day and there's no line," Solages said, "then I'll be worried."