In a piece titled “Democrats Are Taking Latino Voters for Granted,” New Republic contributor Adrian Carrasquillo asks why the Left isn’t doing more to reach out to Hispanics.
Carrasquillo begins by lamenting the fact that Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, bought ad time during the World Cup, while his opponent, incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) did not.
“While Nelson has taken strong stances on Latino issues, he didn’t invest in any World Cup ads of his own and, as of August, still didn’t have a Spanish-language page on his web site (Scott does),” Carrasquillo wrote. “Such decisions reveal a cavalier attitude toward Latino voters that isn’t just a problem for Nelson, whose race is unexpectedly tight, but for the party as a whole.”
Carrasquillo also seems to think President Donald Trump’s actions toward illegal immigrants (and the government’s poor response to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria), “should help Democrats win over Latino voters.” Sadly for Democrats, their candidates are underperforming in districts where they shouldn’t be, such as in California’s 39th district, according to Carrasquillo. Similarly, Democrat Beto O’Rourke is getting less Hispanic support than the man he’s running against: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
The Left simply isn’t spending money on Hispanic outreach, Carrasquillo contends. Hillary Clinton won 66% of the Latino vote (Trump only won 28%), yet his support among the community is increasing. Some of the problem comes from Democrat’s assumptions about the Latino community. They seem to believe they either are, or support, illegal immigrants. Notice Carrasquillo’s focus on illegal immigration earlier in the article. Some Hispanics do care about this, but others who came here legally don’t think it’s fair that others get to break the law and cut in line.
As with all elections, turnout matters, and if Democrats don’t spend money getting Latinos to the polls, they could struggle in the midterms.