Perpetuating Racial Divides: Media Coverage of the Democratic Party Nominees and the Latino Vote

While mainstream media have covered candidates' pursuit of the Latino vote, the mostly white pundits on MSNBC, CNN, and other networks now articulate a narrative that sows racial division by explaining Obama's lower Latino vote percentages as evidence of racial division and tensions between African Americans and Latinos.

April 4, 2008
Leonard M. Baynes

The 2008 election has made history with the racial and gender diversity of the Democratic Party's presidential candidates: a white woman, Hillary Rodham Clinton; an African American man, Barack Obama; and a Latino man, Bill Richardson. From the beginning, the media have promoted a two-person contest between Clinton and Obama, virtually excluding all other candidates.

Of these candidates, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, a former Clinton cabinet member, was the most experienced, having served as United Nations ambassador (1997

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