{"id":13411,"date":"2023-08-08T16:10:08","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T16:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=13411"},"modified":"2023-08-10T19:13:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T19:13:24","slug":"latino-support-for-trump-is-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=13411","title":{"rendered":"Latino Support for Trump Is Real"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

And that\u2019s a problem for Democrats. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Kristian Ramos<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

President Donald Trump has done almost everything he can to anger Latino voters. And yet, his support among this crucial portion of the electorate remains surprisingly consistent. After the 2016 election, exit polls analyzed by the Pew Research Center showed that 28 percent of Latino<\/a> voters supported Trump; today, 30 percent<\/a> support him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This percentage may not seem high. But consider what the number means for the Democrats: Displeasure with the president over the past three years has not<\/em> led to an increase in support for the opposing party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats lost the 2016 election with about 66 percent of the Latino vote. Today 65 percent<\/a>\n of registered Latino voters who are Democrats have a positive view of \nthe party\u2019s presidential candidates. Based on exit polling from the past\n three election cycles, I estimate that Democrats<\/a> need about<\/a> 70 percent of this vote to take back the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having worked at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during the Obama administration, I am firmly aware of the power of the Latino vote, and so I have been watching these numbers with alarm. When Democrats reach out to Latino voters, they are too focused on immigration, and say too little about other issues these voters prioritize. If they want to win over enough Latino votes to retake the White House, Democrats must continue to fight for the immigrant community, but they must also offer a positive, aspirational narrative that embraces Latinos as a vibrant part of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an election that will likely come down to the smallest margins of \nvictory, the consistent support for Trump from a small, but vocal, \nsubset of Latino voters is a real threat to Democrats. If unchanged, \nthis dynamic could have devastating repercussions for Latinos, and for \nthe country as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president\u2019s treatment of immigrants at the border is inhumane and wildly unpopular<\/a>\n with Latinos. And yet, his support among this voting bloc is not \ncratering. In fact, he enjoys more support from this electorate than Mitt Romney did in 2012<\/a>, and about the same level that John McCain<\/a> did in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being\n able to provide for one\u2019s family is one of the main reasons many \npeople\u2014from any country\u2014immigrate to the United States, so the fact that\n Trump\u2019s rhetoric on a growing economy has found an audience is not \nsurprising. In Florida, for example, a poll by Equis Research<\/a>\n showed that 57 percent of Latinos supported the way the president \nhandled the economy. If you look at only Cuban voters from the state, \nthat number jumps to 71 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another important point: Latinos are not one monolithic voting bloc. I was born in El Paso, Texas, and grew up in Tucson, Arizona, a son of Mexican American parents. My family\u2019s political priorities are different from those of, say, Cuban American voters<\/a> in Florida or Puerto Rican voters<\/a> in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the ideological differences are even more stark across \ngenerations. As a third-generation Mexican American, I am right on the \ncusp of an intergenerational rift. Though I firmly identify with both my\n immigrant and American heritage, I am more American than Mexican. \nIdentity is complicated, though. I have childhood friends who are \nMexican American, whose families have lived in the U.S. for generations,\n who no longer identify with their Mexican heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a Pew Research Center report<\/a>,\n \u201cThe closer they are to their immigrant roots, the more likely \nAmericans with Hispanic ancestry are to identify as Hispanic.\u201d \nComplicating matters further, the report notes, \u201c<\/em>a \nlong-standing high intermarriage rate and a decade of declining Latin \nAmerican immigration \u2026 are distancing some Americans with Hispanic \nancestry from the life experiences of earlier generations, reducing the \nlikelihood they call themselves Latino.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-\n and second-generation American Latinos have strong ties to their \nimmigrant heritage. However, the third generation only self-identifies \nas Latino 77 percent<\/a> of the time. By the fourth generation or after, only half of U.S. adults with Latino ancestry say they are Latino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These voters no longer align their cultural identity with immigrants, and immigration as an issue is less important to them. The vitriol the White House directs at immigrants does not move those who support Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t cross the border, the border crossed us,\u201d Martha Garcia, a Trump supporter in New Mexico, told <\/a>The New York Times<\/em><\/a>. \u201cWe need to take care of the people who are already here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n majority of Latinos, however, do support the Democrats. The party has \nnot only done an excellent job of highlighting the atrocious immigration\n record of the Trump administration; it also offers a strong platform \nand record on the economy, health care, and education, the issues about \nwhich these voters care most. However, Democrats don\u2019t do enough to \nspeak directly to Latino voters about these issues, even though the \nLatino unemployment<\/a>\n rate declined more than 7 percent under the previous administration and\n the Affordable Care Act has tremendously benefited the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reaching\n Latino voters requires a prioritization of time and money. Fernand \nAmandi, the lead polling consultant on messaging and media for the \nLatino vote on the 2012 Obama campaign, told me: \u201cAfter the 2010 \nmidterms, Barack Obama realized that he was not going to win his \nreelection with a higher share of white voters then he did in 2008. He \nalso realized he had reached his ceiling of support with black voters. \nIn 2011 he spent a year doing research on what would resonate with \nLatino voters. Early in 2012, he went up on Spanish-language media, \ndefining himself to this community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To reach Latino voters, campaigns have to pitch their candidates using English- and<\/em> Spanish<\/a>-language television, radio, and digital advertisements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the current slate of Democratic candidates, for example, only Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden have gone on both Al Punto<\/em><\/a> with Jorge Ramos<\/a> and Noticias Telemundo<\/em><\/a> with Jos\u00e9 D\u00edaz Balart<\/a>. Furthermore, while all of the top contenders have Spanish-language websites, not all of them took the time<\/a> to make sure the translations were correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats must invest more deeply in turning out Latino voters, and work with national and local grassroots organizations that are already doing amazing work in these communities. If they hone their message, Democrats might be able to sway enough Latino voters to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Kristian Ramos is the founder and principal of Autonomy Strategies and a former spokesman for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And that’s a problem for Democrats. by Kristian Ramos President Donald Trump has done almost everything he can to anger Latino voters. And yet, his support among this crucial portion of the electorate remains surprisingly […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-13411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-latino-vote","tag-latino-vote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13411"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13849,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13411\/revisions\/13849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}