Birth of a Latino Politician

Supervisor Pete Schabarum--who may wind up in a fight for his political life because of a lawsuit that alleges that Latinos have been gerrymandered out of representation on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors--has decided to identify himself as Latino, on the ground that he is the grandchild of a Mexican woman who married a German miner.

Does that mean that during his next campaign we can expect an “ Ich bin ein Latino “ speech?

Look, if Schabarum wants to be successful in helping voters view him as they never have before, he might take a few pages from the book of former Los Angeles City Councilman Arthur K. Snyder, who saw his district transformed in a 1972 reapportionment with a sudden infusion of Latino residents. Snyder changed from a combative, political conservative (not unlike Schabarum) to a combative, Spanish-speaking populist. Soon Snyder was making Horatio Alger speeches about growing up as “a barefoot kid from the barrio.” While not a Latino, Snyder often told Eastside audiences that “ mi corazon es (my heart is) Latino .” That, and his ability to deliver city services to his district, was enough to outweigh his innumerable personal and political missteps and keep him in office for 18 years.

As for Pete Schabarum, after years of antagonizing many in the Latino community, it seems a longshot that his heretofore underpublicized ethnic heritage will help him much with the many Latino voters who want better representation of their interests.

But . . . que sera, sera.