By Abdul-Aziz Hassan

I stood outside the 2nd Precinct of Chicago’s 22nd Ward on Super Tuesday. Standing outside for over seven hours does things to your body. The cold slowly seeps deep into your bones. You can feel it in your heart as your body temperature drops slightly.

Super Tuesday in Chicago was cold and rainy. Regardless of the harsh weather, hundreds if not thousands of people made a similar sacrifice that day. The 22nd Ward alone had poll watchers at every polling precinct. Before the polls opened, campaign volunteers and staff were there, armed with street signs, palm cards, voter guides, and colorful flyers with catchy campaign slogans, "Sí se puede" and "Vote for Change."

There was no doubt that this primary election was a big one.

For weeks leading up to Super Tuesday, talking heads on television and the Web were debating what would happen on this day. How will voters behave today, who will they vote for and why?

The pundits predict that African-Americans will vote for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama because he is African-American, women will vote for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton because she is a woman and everybody else is going to vote for whomever they hate less.

As voters across Illinois headed to the polls, what motivated them was a puzzle without all its pieces. For the first time, identity is at the heart of the political discussion. The identity of a candidate may be a factor in voters’ discussion in deciding which candidate to support.

Early in the primaries it was projected that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was expected to have the Latino-specifically, the Mexican American-vote in the bag. Once he dropped out of the race for the White House, all eyes focused on the battle between Sens. Clinton and Obama and which of the two would gain the Hispanic vote.

What we learned is that Latino voting behavior in the Democratic primaries--indeed, all voting behavior in the Democratic primaries--is not so predictable.

Leading up to Feb. 5, there was an obvious split within Latino communities in Chicago. The Clintons have deep ties to elected officials here and close ties to major figures in the Latino community. Leading up to Super Tuesday there were arguments over local Spanish radio stations.

Alderman of the 25th Ward Danny Solis, brother of Patricia Solis Doyle – the recently ousted manager of Clinton’s campaign – came out as a supporter of Clinton. Martin A. Sandoval, the Illinois State Senator for the 12th District, did too.

The alderman in the neighboring 22nd Ward, Ricardo Muñoz , came out as strong a supporter of Obama. Miguel Del Valle, the current appointed city clerk, who wants to be the first Latino elected to a Chicago citywide office, came out in support of Obama.

On Super Tuesday, each camp was well organized. Volunteers were stationed at polling precincts all over their Wards. Sections of the 22nd Ward were exclusively dedicated to Obama. The neighboring 25th Ward had Clinton signs everywhere. That Tuesday was a nasty day. It was wet and cold, but that did not matter to the brave individuals who roughed it out to help support their candidates.

I waited in the cold rain and wet snow. Pepe Lozano and I stood there, soaked and eager to do whatever we could to help get out the vote, wondering what series of historical events landed us in this situation.

The way big national dynamics play out on the ground in neighborhoods is different. There are histories and complex overlappings of what could be typically segregated communities.

In Chicago, there is this type of story.

The 22nd Ward is made up of two distinct communities.

Little Village, also known as South Lawndale, has the largest Mexican-American community in the Midwest and a section of North Lawndale, a historically African-American community on the city’s West Side.

Gerrymandering on the city’s west side chopped up sections of North Lawndale which resulted in no consolidated political representation for the community.

Out of this dynamic, the 22nd Ward found its political identity. The two distinct communities politically bonded as one under the concept of Black Brown unity – or unity between African-Americans and Hispanics.

The community’s political footing began to take shape. In the 1980s, The Independent Political Organization of the 22nd Ward was founded. A coalition of politically active members of both communities discovered power in unity between these two communities.

Black and Brown coalitions played an essential role in the 1983 election of Harold Washington.

The success of electing Washington to the mayoral office displayed strength in a unified 22nd Ward. That unity has existed throughout many elections, elected many people of color to political offices and answered a crisis in the Little Village community that resulted in the building of a Chicago Public High School in the community in 2003.

Currently, there is a call for Black and Brown unity to take center stage once again to help elect Sen. Obama to the presidency. Many elected Hispanic officials came out in support for Obama, reciting the importance of Black and Brown unity. All cited the need to support a candidate like Obama, highlighting his support for driver licenses for undocumented immigrants. Local elected officials held events aimed at boosting the Hispanic support of Obama across the state.

However, there was a lot of attention placed on the historic 22nd Ward.

A few days before Super Tuesday, members of the 22nd Ward held a "Latinos for Obama" event at a Little Village restaurant. The point was to articulate a political voice to mobilize Hispanics to come out and support Obama.

Clinton supporters spent the weeks before Super Tuesday heavily critiquing Obama. They felt that race is an indicator of where his allegiance lies. He is African-American; therefore he has African-American’s interests in mind.

Members of the 22nd Ward saw Clinton’s tactics as divisive and damaging to the years of work pointed to saying the exact opposite. Such tactics motivated them to come out strong, articulating a message of solidarity.

However, Feb. 5 was the test. The question on many people’s minds: How are Hispanics going to vote? New Hampshire proved that simply asking folks does not prove anything. There is no telling what a person is going to do once they get in the voting booth and they are all alone. Both Obama and Clinton supporters were hoping that their candidate would do well both nationally and here in Illinois.

Overall there was little doubt that Obama would win the state. Nevertheless, in such a dynamic, the margin of victory is as important. A large margin of victory makes a statement directly to the Clinton campaign that this is an Obama state.

When it came down to Feb. 5, the Latino vote was split right down the middle in Illinois, 46 percent voted for Clinton and 53 percent voted for Obama.

However, back in the 22nd Ward the same split did not exist in the Latino vote. Latinos in the 22nd Ward voted overwhelmingly for Clinton. The 22nd precinct is about 60 percent Latino and Latinos in that precinct voted for Clinton at a ratio of 2 to 1.

Obama supporters within the 22nd Ward were disappointed but not diminished. The late push to support Obama was never meant to change minds but to fully mobilize a base of activists, which they did.

As I stood in the ice water and snow, palm cards in hand, I thought about the election of Harold Washington and its example of Black and Brown unity. I was excited, ready and hoped history would repeat itself.

At the polling precinct there was a record turnout.

Across the state, Obama won a slight majority of the Hispanic vote. The complexity of these happenings is not unique. All over Illinois, small battles pretty and ugly were in full gear.

It all amounted to Obama winning 65 percent of the Illinois Democratic vote.