Reply #1: Some pundits grossly overestimate the affect of a candidate's race upon Latino voters.

[Yanez Houston Jordan]

I think it is true that Texas Latino voters show a slightly different profile in who they support as compared to other Democratic voter demographic segments, but the idea that Texas Latino voters are casting their ballots based more on the race of the candidate is an offensive myth that needs to be busted.

Ron Kirk's support from Latino voters in his 2002 primary run-off victory over Victor Morales is just one example that busts the myth of overwhelming Latino bias in favor Latino candidates.

There are even better examples from 2004. Look back to the Democratic primaries for the newly gerrymandered congressional districts in 2004. In CD 25 Lloyd Doggett easily beat Leticia Hinojosa among Latino voters, in CD22 Richard Morrison handily beat Erik Saenz among Latino voters, and in CD 23 Joe Sullivan beat Virgil Yanta among Latino voters.

The divide between Hillary and Obama among my Latino friends is about 50%-50% -- just the same as the divide among non-Latino friends. Among all of my Latino friends who support Hillary, none mention race as an issue and the consensus reason for supporting Hillary which I hear again and again is loyalty to the Clintons because they feel Bill was a good president and a good Democrat who promoted their Democratic values. Race never seems to enter the picture.

The next time you hear some blowhard like Chris Matthews trying desperately to spin the Texas primary into a race war between Hillary's Latino supporters versus Obama's black supporters, just turn the TV off.