This could be the year the Latino vote makes the difference

[Tennis]

So says Reuters.


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-el...-idUSKCN1062O9

You could have made a successful career in American politics warning, or promising, that the Latino vote is about to become the deciding factor in presidential elections. For decades.

In the aftermath of the 2012 race the Republican Party establishment itself highlighted the importance of Latino voters. Bemoaning the fact that GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney received only 27 percent of the Latino vote, an autopsy by the party of its defeat noted that by 2050 nearly 30 percent of all Americans will be of Hispanic origin.

This made the party’s inability to connect with Latino voters all the more alarming: “If Hispanic Americans perceive that a GOP nominee or candidate does not want them in the United States (i.e. self-deportation), they will not pay attention to our next sentence.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has been making the same point this year. He is warning that voters aren’t that eager to hear what a candidate has to say on taxes or the federal deficit, if “you wanna deport their grandma.”

Instead of Romney’s awkward talk of “self-deportations,” GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is calling for mass deportations of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States and for building that “beautiful wall” along the southern border.

Trump launched his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants rapists. It’s fair to say that anti-immigrant resentment has been a powerful recruitment theme for his campaign.

The urgency of the immigration issue and Trump’s acrimonious tone when he talks about Mexico are head-scratchers. Illegal immigration from Mexico has been declining for years; major U.S. cities on or near the border boast some of the lowest crime rates of any metropolitan areas; and Mexico, a middle-income country with an expanding middle class, is the second largest buyer of U.S. goods. What’s more, Mexican migrants are mostly entrepreneurial Christians with strong family values, who appreciate America’s diversity and freedom. Once upon a time, such people were considered strong prospects for the GOP.

So will Trump’s strident rhetoric on immigration scuttle his prospects in the fall? The uncomfortable question is whether he won the nomination despite such talk, or because of it.

Meanwhile, Latinos have been slow to show up and make their political power felt. Latinos are projected to make up 12 percent of the electorate this year, having pulled roughly even with African-Americans. But the Latino slice of the electorate could be larger if more of the approximately 4 million legal residents opted to become citizens and registered to vote.

Spanish-language media and community organizers have been working hard to naturalize and register more Latinos. They report spikes in registration numbers in response to Trump’s campaign. But it isn’t clear that the spike is any more significant than often occurs in election years.

Trump’s narrative of an America besieged by foreigners — be they Mexican immigrants or Chinese factory workers — resonates with aging, white, middle-class and blue-collar voters struggling to make ends meet. Who knows, the depth of negative passions the immigration issue stirs within a segment of the Republican base may yet help mobilize more votes for Trump.

The states to keep an eye on for a potentially crippling backlash against Republicans are four familiar battlegrounds and a dark horse contender for an upset. The familiar battlegrounds are Colorado, New Mexico, Florida and Nevada, all states won by President Barack Obama in 2012.

The dark horse state is Arizona, whose GOP has suffered a wrenching civil war over a series of anti-immigration measures. The issue had quieted down, with establishment Republicans regaining the upper hand and changing the subject under new governor Doug Ducey. Now, Trump’s campaign has come along to stir things up again.

Romney carried the state by a comfortable 10 points in 2012. But recent head-to-head Clinton-Trump polls show a far tighter race, with Latino turnout the unknowable wild card.

It’s possible that Trump could pull off a last hurrah for ethnic resentment and nativisim and win the battle of 2016. But if he does, the Republican Party will have lost its chance to dominate an increasingly Latino, and diverse, nation.

I remember after Romney got smashed by Obama Fox News was saying that the GOP needed to pivot towards minorities. They really don't seem to have done so and like the article says, it could be a huge problem.

[mvaliz]

I remember when people were pointing towards Rubio after Romney in hopes that he will unite the Latinos under him....

...fast-forward 4 years and we got Donald Dump wanting to deport most of them and build a wall to keep any more out. =/

[Tennis]

Some other interesting facts.

Latinos and Asian Americans account for 86% of the U.S. population growth between 2000-2010.1

In 2016, Latino and Asian Americans are projected to comprise 15-17% of the electorate.

83% percent of Hispanics say immigration reform is important for determining their vote for Congress.2

[1]: Ayres, Whit. Source: “2016 and Beyond: How Republicans Can Elect a President in the New America” (Resurgent Republic Press, 2015)

[2]: National Survey of Hispanic Registered Voters | May 27-June 1, 2014

[Rudol Von Stroheim]

I remember when people were pointing towards Rubio after Romney in hopes that he will unite the Latinos under him....

...fast-forward 4 years and we got Donald Dump wanting to deport most of them and build a wall to keep any more out. =/

Er, pretty sure he's wanting to deport immigrants found unlawfully within this country and build a wall to keep them from returning. Not literally all Mexicans.

I know Trump tends to say some questionable shit but let's not take what he does say and make it any worse than it really was.

[Bollocks]

What bothers me the most about republicans is that they knew what to do. Their post mortem has a great analysis on what went wrong and how to fix it step by step and they still fucked it up

[Rudol Von Stroheim]

What bothers me the most about republicans is that they knew what to do. Their post mortem has a great analysis on what went wrong and how to fix it step by step and they still fucked it up

Because it ultimately wasn't up to them. That's the thing.

[primalmatter]

Some other interesting facts.

Latinos and Asian Americans account for 86% of the U.S. population growth between 2000-2010.1

In 2016, Latino and Asian Americans are projected to comprise 15-17% of the electorate.

83% percent of Hispanics say immigration reform is important for determining their vote for Congress.2

[1]: Ayres, Whit. Source: “2016 and Beyond: How Republicans Can Elect a President in the New America” (Resurgent Republic Press, 2015)

[2]: National Survey of Hispanic Registered Voters | May 27-June 1, 2014

Am I jaded or is the fact the Democrats seem so sure that Latinos will vote for them kind of makes it seem like they want to just import more votes for themselves?

Are they really serving their country by doing so?

[mvaliz]

What bothers me the most about republicans is that they knew what to do. Their post mortem has a great analysis on what went wrong and how to fix it step by step and they still fucked it up

They didn't just fuck it up - they set it on fire and watched it burn to ashes. I guess they stayed around cus it was at least a good place to cook smores? /shrug

- - - Updated - - -

Am I jaded or is the fact the Democrats seem so sure that Latinos will vote for them kind of makes it seem like they want to just import more votes for themselves?

Are they really serving their country by doing so?

You're jaded - and a conspiracy theorist, which aren't allowed here - by the way.

[Bollocks]

Am I jaded or is the fact the Democrats seem so sure that Latinos will vote for them kind of makes it seem like they want to just import more votes for themselves?

Are they really serving their country by doing so?

Its odd, aside from immigration, latinos should be conservatives. From my experience a lot of latin american people (mexico, bolivia, peru, etc) are very religious and socially conservative, so they should be voting republican. If they managed to elect Rubio, perhaps latinos would have voted for him.

[Theodarzna]

I remember when people were pointing towards Rubio after Romney in hopes that he will unite the Latinos under him....

...fast-forward 4 years and we got Donald Dump wanting to deport most of them and build a wall to keep any more out. =/

At the end of the day Trump caught on to what most politicians heading the DC consensus ignored, the working class white voter is still actually a titanic voting bloc.

[Tennis]

What bothers me the most about republicans is that they knew what to do. Their post mortem has a great analysis on what went wrong and how to fix it step by step and they still fucked it up

It doesn't bother me. They knew what they needed to do and can only blame themselves for what is sure to be a huge loss.

[In Ogres We Trust]

Some other interesting facts.

Latinos and Asian Americans account for 86% of the U.S. population growth between 2000-2010.1

In 2016, Latino and Asian Americans are projected to comprise 15-17% of the electorate.

83% percent of Hispanics say immigration reform is important for determining their vote for Congress.2

[1]: Ayres, Whit. Source: “2016 and Beyond: How Republicans Can Elect a President in the New America” (Resurgent Republic Press, 2015)

[2]: National Survey of Hispanic Registered Voters | May 27-June 1, 2014

Parasites don't dictate to the host on what they can or can not do, and the American people have no need for their presence. They need us; we don't need them.

P.S. Also, I find it disturbing that people don't consider this to be an invasion, and I find it disturbing that our government and non-governmental entities openly declare their treason on a daily basis.

Infracted

[Bollocks]

At the end of the day Trump caught on to what most politicians heading the DC consensus ignored, the working class white voter is still actually a titanic voting bloc.

It also bothers me that people confuse his rhetoric for being pro worker, instead of just anti globalization because it benefits corporations more.

[primalmatter]

Its odd, aside from immigration, latinos should be conservatives. From my experience a lot of latin american people (mexico, bolivia, peru, etc) are very religious and socially conservative, so they should be voting republican. If they managed to elect Rubio, perhaps latinos would have voted for him.

Why Rubio over Trump?

Policy wise they both have essentially the same thing.

[Tennis]

Parasites don't dictate to the host on what they can or can not do, and the American people have no need for their presence. They need us; we don't need them.

P.S. Also, I find it disturbing that people don't consider this to be an invasion, and I find it disturbing that our government and non-governmental entities openly declare their treason on a daily basis.

They're 17% of the electorate and you're calling them parasites? That's really racist. They are citizens.

[Bollocks]

Why Rubio over Trump?

Policy wise they both have essentially the same thing.

Because Rubio did not claim they were rapists and he looks like a latino ( I don't know if he actually is one).Regardless of what he actually meant, the entire world took it as such, I mean c'mon even Shakira made a statement against Trump on that one

[Rudol Von Stroheim]

It also bothers me that people confuse his rhetoric for being pro worker, instead of just anti globalization because it benefits corporations more.

...Wut? That doesn't make any fucking sense. Globalization benefits corporations and helps to drive down small business growth.

[Ace192]

Parasites don't dictate to the host on what they can or can not do, and the American people have no need for their presence. They need us; we don't need them.

P.S. Also, I find it disturbing that people don't consider this to be an invasion, and I find it disturbing that our government and non-governmental entities openly declare their treason on a daily basis.

You do realize to be part of the electorate they would have to be citizens aka legal immigrants right?

[Theodarzna]

It also bothers me that people confuse his rhetoric for being pro worker, instead of just anti globalization because it benefits corporations more.

Globalization has been anti-worker and pro-corporation.

Opposing globalization is the same thing as being Pro-Worker.

[Rudol Von Stroheim]

Because Rubio did not claim he was a rapist and he looks like a latino ( I don't know if he actually is one). I mean c'mon even Shakira made a statement against Trump on that one.

...He said that the Mexican government was sending their criminals over the border and among them he said were the likes of rapists. How true that statement is or isn't, doesn't mean he's calling Mexicans rapists.

If we're going to critique the things Trump says, let's at least try to do so within their actual context and not blow them out of proportion.