(Latin Pulse: 21 October, 2008) There are only a few weeks before the election and the Latino vote is seen as one to woo in this year's U.S. presidential race. Is this view simply symptomatic of media spin or could this election go down in history as one decided by the Latino vote? In this episode, we look closely at the role Latinos could have in choosing the next president of the United States. Wall Street, housing, and the general state of the U.S. economy are proving to be issues that neither presidential candidate expected to be central to their campaigns. American voters now demand answers - and an economic strategy - immediately. Hispanic voters are no exception; a recent poll by the Pew Hispanic Center reveals that one out of two voting Hispanics think they are worse off today than they were a year ago and are looking to the candidates for answers. Español Las Elecciones en los Estados Unidos y el voto Latino. Quedan solamente algunas semanas para las campañas electorales, y el voto Latino parece emerger como uno de los ingredientes principales en la elección presidencial de los Estados Unidos de este año. ¿es este un truco electoral o puede ser que estas elecciones sean históricamente las cuales sean decididas por el voto de los Latinos? El tema de este programa el rol que los Latinos pueden tener en la elección del próximo presidente de los EEUU; Wall Street, el mercado inmobiliario, y en general el estado de la economía en el país, son cuestiones que ninguno de los candidatos esperaba fueran parte de sus campañas. Sin embargo se han enfocado en ellas porque el electorado esta pidiendo respuestas y una clara estrategia para salir de la crisis. El electorado Latino no es una excepción, una encuesta reciente del Pew Hispanic Center revela que uno de cada dos Latinos votantes considera que se encuentran en peores condiciones que hace un año, y quieren escuchar respuestas y una estrategia económica de parte de los candidatos presidenciales. Panelists Maria Teresa Petersen, Executive Director, Voto Latino Named by Hispanic Magazine as among the top Latinas in Government and Politics, Ms. Petersen is the founding executive director of Voto Latino. Voto Latino is a youth organization engaging the next generation of Americans in civic participation. Under her leadership, Voto Latino launched the first national mobile text-messenging campaign to register voters in 2006, has produced award winning public service announcements, created the Artist Coalition of over 35 active celebrity voices, and has created a media coalition that includes MySpace, YouTube, iTunes Latino, SiTV, LATV, and MTV. Prior to Voto Latino, she founded Petersen Advisory and served as a political consultant to clients including: Bayer Pharmaceuticals, National Latino Council of Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention, Mickey Ibarra & Associates, and AT&T. She started her career as a Legislative Aide for former Democratic Caucus Chairman Vic Fazio managing international trade issues and appropriations. In addition to serving as a frequent guest on Chris Matthew's Hardball, Ms. Petersen appears on CNBC, NPR, CNN Español, and Fox News as a political analyst. She serves as a frequent guest speaker at national conferences focusing on social entrepreneurship and Latino issues. Maria Echaveste, Senior Scholar, Berkeley Ms. Echaveste is a lecturer in residence at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law and the co-founder of the Nueva Vista Group, a consulting firm that works with nonprofit organizations, associations, and corporations on such issues as immigration, health care, telecommunications, labor, and finances. From 1998 to 2001, Echaveste served as an assistant, then as deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. She also specialized in international issues related to Latin America. From 1997 to 1998, Echaveste was director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House and the administrator of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division from 1993 to 1997. Maria Elena Messina, Teacher ELD, Wilcox High School, Santa Clara California Ms. Messina holds a Master of Arts in Education from San Francisco State University. She has been working in education as a Spanish teacher at several high schools in the South Peninsula, and has also been the vice principal at Wilcox High School. Maria published a book "The Elder Latino: A Cross Cultural Study of Minority Elders in San Diego". In addition, she is a member of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), and of the California Association of Bilingual Educators. Andy S. Gomez, Ph. D., University of Miami Dr. Gomez is Assistant Provost and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at UM. As Assistant Provost, Dr. Gomez chairs UM's SACS accreditation process. Dr. Gomez served as Dean of the School of International Studies from 1999 to 2002 and earlier as Associate Dean of International Studies (1996-1999). Before joining the University of Miami, he served as Undersecretary of Education and Chief of Staff at the Executive Office of Education in Boston, Massachusetts (1991-1994). At the University of Houston, Dr. Gomez served as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs (1990-1991), Special Assistant to the President (1989-1990), Executive Director of University Relations (1984-1989), Special Assistant to the Chancellor (1987-1991), and Assistant Professor of Public Administration (1987-1991). Dr. Gomez's research agenda focuses on the ideological and psychological reconstruction of human values and attitudes in a post-Castro Cuba. Dr. Gomez's community involvement includes serving on the Education Commission of the State's Advisory Panel on Postsecondary Education (2006 - present) and the Center for Civic Education's Advisory Board on Cuba's Transition (2005 - present). He received his Doctor of Education in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy, Harvard University, (1993); Master's in Education, Harvard University (1991); Master's in Public Administration, FIU (1978); B.A. International Studies, University of Miami (1976). Walyce Almeida, Knight center for International Media, University of Miami, Latin America Blogger Ms. Almeida is a graduate from the University of Miami journalism school and she is a friend of the Centro Cultural Brasil U.S.A. Her family is from Brazil, but she was born and raised in Miami. Although, she loves Miami very much, Walyce always feel like she needs to be close to Brazil in one way or another. That's why her blogs focus on that country (as well as neighboring countries).