Crowded around flat-screen TVs and a projector broadcasting the State of the Union
address by President Obama, members of the Latino community watched the
speech with hopes that Obama would address the issues closest to their hearts.

"I'm really looking forward to how he's going to address healthcare and the
economy," said Manuel Saucedo before the speeches. "And for Latinos,
especially, immigration."

Immigration rights was among the top issues of this crowd at Remedy Lounge in downtown Los Angeles. Hosted by the group Progreso Politico, a Latino organization, many gathered to hear members of their community speak in addition to Obama.

Before the address began, Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant
Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) asked the crowd if they remembered the
President's remarks on immigration from last year's speech. The confused
audience looked at one another as each strained to remember what was said in
2009. Salas, in response to the silence, remarked that immigration was not on
the agenda last year and expressed hope that this year will be
different.

Settling
into cushioned seats that lined the walls of the bar, those in attendance
listened carefully, punctuating Obama's speech with applause for points made on
the economy and healthcare. Other times, they laughed at reaction shots of many
Republican politicians as CNN broadcast images of those who refused to clap for the President.

As
the speech progressed, a few patrons became restless, eating and drinking as they watched the TVs.

"He's
not touching immigration," one attendee whispered to another.

Towards
the end of the night, however, came the moment the crowd was waiting for: an
all-too-brief mention on immigration issues. The hustle of the lounge paused
for a second, listening intently, before continuing on with their conversations as the president wrapped up his speech.

It
was easy to read that the crowd was saddened about the fact that the issues they
came to hear weren't a larger part of the night.

"I
am disappointed that immigration [as a topic] came at the end of the speech,"
said Elva Lima, one of the speakers. Expressing a
desire to hear more about Latino issues, she left the makeshift stage, saying that she was
nonetheless impressed with the points Obama made about education.

This
sentiment floated through the mostly liberal crowd, with many murmuring approval at
this State of the Union speech, but with an undercurrent of disappointment, nonetheless.

One patron could be heard
saying to another, "Latinos helped elect Obama, he should care more about
Latino issues!"

Bob Watt, a former horn player for
the Los Angeles Philharmonic and an African American, summed up his thoughts on
Obama and how he is handling ethnic issues, showing an understanding of why he
feels Obama is not focused on these points.

"I think there's been a growing
concern that Black America has...about [President Obama] not addressing Black
issues in an ongoing way. It's interesting," said Watt. "He is the President of
the United States, not of Black America. We all knew that going into it.
[Obama] has to cover the whole spectrum."

As the group slowly flooded onto the
streets outside of the lounge or hung around inside, the dismay of the speech
melted away as attendees talked to one another about various issues in their own community. The speech wasn't what they hoped for, but it wasn't a failure
either. A belief in this president still held strong in the crowd.