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diggParade of luminaries
The Valley of the Sun was a red carpet for a parade of visiting Latino glitterati recently.
Antonio Villaraigosa, the charismatic L.A. mayor, was in town at almost the same time as Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor trying to get to the White House before him.
Villaraigosa was the attraction at a non-partisan political fundraiser for Laura Pastor, candidate for Phoenix City Council. He was welcomed by Congressman Ed Pastor, Laura's papa and Arizona's lead Latino politico.
Richardson met with Gov. Janet Napolitano at a fundraiser organized by Ronnie Lopez. The candidate said the Democrats have a Latino, a Black and a woman running for president.
"A lot of the barriers are falling," he noted, saying something our grandparents never would have believed possible.
Other visitors included Congressman Xavier Beccera, civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, theater icon Luis Valdez, actor Cheech Marin and writers Victor Villaseñor and Sam Quiñones.
At the national level, Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton announced that Raul Yzaguirre, and former head of the National Council of La Raza, will co-chair her presidential campaign and lead its outreach to Hispanic voters. These political visits show Arizona as the next stage for Latino leadership ascendancy.
