LOS ANGELES — Utahn Mickey Ibarra offers a political "trifecta" that Al Gore's campaign hopes to capitalize on at the Democratic National Convention this week.
First, Ibarra is Hispanic. Second, he was a teacher and longtime official of the National Education Association, the country's largest teacher union. Third, for four years as an assistant to President Clinton, he built bridges with local and state elected officials nationwide.
"I'll be working with all three groups at the convention," Ibarra said. He also has scheduled numerous speeches to these groups as a surrogate for Gore to help cement his relationship with them.
That takes on extra importance after GOP nominee George W. Bush wooed Hispanics and educators by parading both groups at the Republican convention earlier this month. Bush also hopes to use support from 30 GOP governors to win their states, but work by Democratic mayors and county officials could counter that.
"I am one who applauds what he (Bush) was trying to do," Ibarra told the Deseret News.
"But I think what Republicans offer is 'inclusion illusion.' "
For example, Ibarra said he plans to remind the Hispanic Caucus of the Democratic National Committee in a speech Monday that "93 percent of all elected Hispanics in the country are Democrats."
He said that helps show that Republicans are mere newcomers to Hispanic concerns. He says Hispanics would do better to stick to their roots, friends and longtime home in the Democratic Party.
"The truth is on our side," he said.
Ibarra is a messenger who carries credibility with Hispanics. He rose from being placed in a series of foster homes at age 2 in Utah to eventually landing one of the top jobs in the White House, making him a perfect symbol for improved education and race relations and the opportunity that brings.
He has said that while growing up in Utah, he found firsthand that "serious racial division continues to exist in this country." Such problems, he has said, led him and his brother to leave a long-term foster home in Utah as teenagers to live with their father in California.
While at the Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, he was elected class president and chosen as the student most likely to succeed. It helped him win a scholarship to Brigham Young University, and he returned to Utah to take advantage of the financial support. He also had an offer of free room and board from former foster parents.
Ibarra used his education to become a special-education teacher at Hillcrest High School and to help form the Nebo Alternative High School in Springville.
That eventually led to years of work as a top staffer with the National Education Association teachers union, including working as its manager of international relations.
Not surprisingly, he was chosen as a speaker for a caucus of 350 teachers who are delegates to the Democratic convention.
While Bush's wife was a teacher and school librarian, Ibarra said "our convention is full of teachers. Education has always been one of our top concerns," a message he also hopes to trumpet.
For the past four years, Ibarra has served as the White House director of intergovernmental affairs, enjoying the top-possible staff rank as assistant to the president.
He has acted as the liaison between the administration and leaders of states, counties and cities. He plans speeches to Democratic members of the Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties and others to remind them of help the Clinton-Gore administration has offered.
"We've listened," he said, and worked with them. He will be asking them to work hard for Gore to allow their relationships to continue.
"I will have a busy week in Los Angeles."
E-mail: lee@desnews.com