California, New York and Ohio, with 370, 236 and 140 delegates respectively, were the coveted goods for the Democratic presidential hopefuls, whose party held primaries in 10 states across the country, in what is known as Super Tuesday. Kerry, who won in nine states and emerged the strong frontrunner, now is focused on defeating Bush

On Monday, Kerry added to the list of his supporters Local 1199, the most powerful health workers’ union in the state, headed up by Dennis Rivera, Bronx Borough president Adolfo Carrion, and City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera. Both Kerry and Edwards faced opposition from Al Sharpton, a civil rights leader who has the support of several Latino leaders.

But for Jose Rivera, president of the Democratic Party of the Bronx – whose son is Councilman Joel Rivera, a Kerry supporter –Kerry’s and Edwards’ silence in regard to Latino issues is “disturbing.” He accused them of not visiting the Latino communities while they campaigned in the Big Apple.

Latinos have also questioned the candidates’ silence on other issues, including immigrant issues, affirmative action programs, and Puerto Rico’s political future. It appears that right now Democrats are solely focused on one thing: to get George W. Bush out of the White House.

For Guillermo Chacon, from the Salvadoran-American National Network, the greatest “absence” in this campaign has been the Latino leadership. It is essential, according to the activist, that once the Democratic-Republican tug of war is over, that the Latino leadership step up and bring Latino issues into the national debate.

“It is evident this presidential election will be one of the most contested and the Latino vote will be very much in demand,” asserted Chacon.

According to the Census Bureau, there are close to 2.6 million Latinos in New York. Sixty percent of the Latino voters are Puerto Rican, and they tend to vote like other Latino voters.