Cisneros: `This is where the election is going to be won'

By Julio Urdaneta

Friday, October 29, 2004 2:05 AM CDT

RACINE - Making his second visit to Racine in six weeks on Thursday, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros urged a crowd of mostly black and Hispanic supporters of Sen. John Kerry to vote on Tuesday.

"This is where the election is going to be won," said Cisneros, a member of President Clinton's Cabinet.

He asked people to encourage their peers to go to the polls and express their opinion. "Talk to your compadre, to your comadre," Cisneros said. "This is the election that our future depends on. The future of our families, our country and our children depends on this election."

In reference to the Iraq war, Cisneros said that this is a "difficult situation" and that it takes "time to build more alliances and put an end to that conflict. Isn't it worth working for five more days? "Go out and multiply your vote. Deliver Racine. Deliver

Wisconsin."

Cisneros accompanied several people inside City Hall to cast an early vote for the upcoming Nov. 2 elections. He insisted that the election might be decided in Wisconsin, judging from the results of the 2000 election.

He acknowledged that now people are more proactive toward voting.

"I appreciate the fact that people are paying attention," he said.

Cisneros was introduced to the attendees by community activist Diana Garcia, who praised his efforts when in office at HUD.

"He helped many people like me become house owners," Garcia said.

Many of the attendees asked for autographs and took pictures with Cisneros, a leading figure in the Latino community.

"He (Cisneros) is a very dynamic speaker," said Rosa Gonzales, 68, of Racine. "We really need to get the Latinos out to vote."

"He is for the issues Kerry is for," said Treva Anderson, 31, from Racine. "He is for the things we need - health care, jobs, education. Bush failed us in those areas."

Cisneros also detailed some of the outlines of the immigration policy in a Kerry administration. He criticized the Bush administration's guest worker plan, saying it's "not practical." Cisneros said that during the first 100 days of a Kerry administration there will be a more comprehensive plan that "will recognize the dignity of workers."

Prior to his service in Clinton's Cabinet from 1993-97, Cisneros was elected as mayor of San Antonio in 1981. After leaving the Cabinet, he was president of Spanish-language TV chain Univision from 1997-2000.

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