California Latino politicos and Clinton: Why so chummy?

This question came up today in a conversation with David Menefee-Libey, a politics professor at Pomona College. The media and political observers have pointed out the long, close ties between the Latino political establishment in the state and the Clintons, but the reasons given as to why the two enjoy such a seemingly symbiotic relationship have been scarce.

Menefee-Libey has an interesting theory on this. He points out that term limits in California -- which kicked in between 1992 and 1994 -- were responsible for bringing in a major wave of Latino politicians into state government. This occurred during President Bill Clinton's first term.

"This explosion of Latino legislators, which occurred at the same time as Clinton becoming president," and the subsequent liasing between these state and federal officials during the Clinton administration, were the foundation of the Clinton-California Latino partnership, said Menefee-Libey.

Since then many of those same freshman Latino legislators have risen in the leadership or moved on to higher office. Two glaring examples are also two of the staunchest and valuable Hillary Clinton supporters in the Southland: L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (first elected to the state Assembly in 1994 and later Assembly speaker before becoming mayor) and Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, who before her congressional days was an assemblywoman from 1992-94 and state senator from 1994-2000.

Menefee-Libey calls his theory "just a hunch," but I think it's a pretty good one.