When Sen. Hillary Clinton asks her supporters to back Sen. Barack Obama tonight as the party’s presidential nominee, it will be more than just her strong band of female supporters she’s addressing.

Clinton outperformed Obama two to one in the primaries among Latino voters, a voting constituency that is expected to play a significant role in this election, especially with turnout up 24 percent from the 2004 primaries. So it’s not surprising that for some preaching unity on behalf of the party, bridging the remaining Latino-Obama divide is exactly what coming together is all about.

In the midst of an electrifying nearly two-hour set, Wyclef Jean brought the historical racial tension between blacks and Latinos that narrative that has been quietly at play this election to center stage.

“All my Latinos and Latinas, let’s see you vote for Obama,” he told the crowd at his performance at the Party with a Purpose bash at Denver’s Theorie restaurant and bar.

After the show (which included the former Fugee climbing above the crowd on amps and a trellis over the bar as dozens of partygoers joined him to dance on stage), Clef told P+P that the candidate has to “get personal” with Latino voters, showing them who he is and what he stands for.

“It’s like he’s sort of like brand new to Latinos. The best way to explain it is, say I just came out with a record, you know, and it’s my first record, and it’s like ‘Yo, I want all the Latinos to go buy the album, but when I do a song with like Carlos Santana, or a Shakira or Evee Queen then the Latinos say, ‘Oh, Clef is part of our same cause, you know what I mean, so we support his music.’ What Obama just needs to do is just [he] needs to be out there and get in front of them and talk to them like personal, you know what I mean? And I think he’s definitely willing to do that.”

Clef said he thinks Clinton is definitely going to unite the party, noting the strong pull Bill, who won 72 percent of the Latino vote in 1996, has among many citizens with ties to the Caribbean and Latin America because of his strong support for Haiti. Clinton showed signs that Clef’s on to the right idea yesterday, making a surprise visit to the Hispanic Caucus meeting here in Denver yesterday to “work for Barack Obama as hard as you did for me.” Some of the pull might be working; Obama is gaining steam among Hillary Clinton’s Latino base of late, pulling in nearly 75 percent of her former supporters. But with 50,000 Latinos turning 18 and becoming eligible to vote each month, the stakes are high for establishing trust in the community, and Wyclef thinks the foundation is there for Obama to win.

“I don’t know him from this election, I know him from before this election. I met him at the Black Caucus, and I feel that he’s really genuine in the fact of his new idea of this politics and it’s a new wave,” he said.

But even if Obama is delivered the White House in November, Clef cautioned against expecting immediate change.

“I want all the Latinos to know that eight years, you know, is George Bush. So at the end of the day don’t think somebody’s going to go in and all the problems go away in six months. I feel that he’s someone who if you speak he’ll definitely speak and you’ll listen. And I think that’s the first step.”

Tags: Latino vote, Party for a Purpose, race, wyclef jean