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Columbus Day: Your guide to the top 5 political events today

Election season doesn’t stop for Columbus Day, and the action isn’t limited to the presidential contest. Here are your top five political events to watch this Columbus Day.

4. Obama honors César Chávez

Gosia Wozniacka/AP
Paul Chavez, Cesar Chavez's middle son and president of the Cesar Chavez Foundation stands near his father's grave site in the memorial garden in Keene, Calif on Oct. 2. On Monday, President Obama is designating parts of the Tehachapi mountains as a national monument, a move seen as likely to shore up support from Hispanic and progressive voters just five weeks before the election.

  • By David Grant Staff writer

Team Romney isn’t having all the Columbus Day fun. Mr. Obama, too, will be making a stop heavy with political significance: a speech to announce the creation of the César E. Chávez National Monument in California. Mr. Chávez, a Mexican-American hero of the labor movement who died in 1993, fought to unionize farm workers.

The speech, slated to begin about 2:15 p.m., Eastern time, offers Obama an opportunity to speak to two important Democratic constituencies: Hispanic Americans and organized labor. It also is a bit of a throwback for the president, whose campaign was rhetorically propelled by a chant of “Yes we can” back in 2008. That’s an English language riff, whether intentional or not, on Chávez’s famous slogan, “Si, se puede.”

As the president’s speech follows Romney’s address by several hours, it’s possible that the Obama campaign will use its speech to rebut the Republican challenger.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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