Early Sunday evening, CandidatoUSA interviewed Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who was en route from Marshalltown, Iowa to Ames, Iowa. The mayor was in Iowa campaigning on behalf of Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy and speaking at events that are attended by as little as “ten, fifteen, twenty” people to as many as “sixty or more”, which is less than the capacity on an LAUSD school bus. That doesn’t sound like a lot of people and objectively it ain’t. But, for Iowa a turnout of a dozen people at an event by a campaign surrogate is considered respectable. Below is an edited and partial transcript of the interview:
What do folks ask you after you make your opening remarks at these events?
I always begin with a question that I ask rhetorically. What is the mayor of Los Angeles doing here a few days before New Year’s in the dead of winter in Iowa. And I say that I am here because this is the most important election in my lifetime. An election that goes to the heart of what really matters to most Americans and that is extricating ourselves from war, investing and restoring strength in the middle class, providing universal health care for uninsured Americans and investing in the fight against global warming.
And what I also say is that this the deepest and most talented Democratic field since I’ve been voting in 1971, my first Presidential election in 1972. I can’t remember a field this deep at least since 1968 when Bobby Kennedy and McCarthy were running. Although this is a deep, talented field I believe that Senator Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience that we need right now in the country to take on the tough challenges that we face as a nation.
You mentioned Muscatine and Marshalltown, a lot of these places have seen a sharp influx of Latino immigrants in the last 15 years. Do Latino voters attend these events? Do they ask about immigration?
Yes, there have been a number of Latinos. Particularly, Americans of Mexican descent and others who have come. I’ve met with a broad section of Iowans.
Does the topic of immigration come up?
Yes, the issue of immigration has come up in almost every event that I’ve been to here in Iowa. That is true of Nevada, as well, when I’ve campaigned for Senator Clinton. It is a very significant issue and a challenge that we face in the United States. Senator Clinton has the wherewithal to help, craft and enact a fair and just immigration reform plan that is founded on the principles that this great country was built on. The principles of embracing new Americans but also fortifying our borders, collaborating with our neighbors, providing employer sanctions but very importantly also providing a pathway to citizenship to those immigrants that play by the rules, pay their taxes and want to be part of the American dream.
You mentioned your time in Nevada. Why not spend that time trying to drum up votes for Clinton in California?
First of all, make no mistake, I spend the vast majority of my time in Los Angeles and in California. I can tell you that wherever I go, I talk about Hillary Clinton’s strength, her experience, her leadership and her candidacy. The eyes of the nation, of the world are focused on Iowa right now. When called upon, I’ve answered. By the way, I am in the thick fog on my way to Ames because as I said this is the most imp election in my lifetime.
What will you be doing on behalf of the campaign ahead of the February 5 primary in California?
Well, I’ll return to LA tomorrow afternoon. I’ll spend the first of January there. I’ll announce historic new crime figures in Los Angeles, that we’ve reduced crime to historic levels. And then I’ll return to Iowa for the election. Go back to Los Angeles. I’ll be in Nevada a good part of my time until those elections. And then back to Los Angeles and wherever else in California or anywhere else that the campaign needs me.
Why not start the electoral process in a big, racially and ethnically diverse state like California?
That’s a great question, a question that many Californians have asked for a long time. But, the fact of the matter is that at this time, these elections at this time begin in Iowa, go to New Hampshire and South Carolina, Nevada and then on February 5 to California. Given the rules of the game as they exist today, I am here in Iowa.
I think this election is too important to stay on the sidelines, to not get involved. I have said too many that I am here today because there is a Civil Rights Act and a Voting Rights Act that opened up the country to me. America has been good to me. And the American Dream is a dream that needs to be a dream that everyone of us can aspire to.
I am excited to be here in the dead of fog as we’re driving down this lonely highway in an effort to really get out the vote in support of change, of a new direction for America and of the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.
