Why are Hispanics the fastest growing segment of the GOP?

[fencesitter]

am I wrong? Didn't I read that in the last election, the Hispanic vote was mostly republican? I can see it in Cuban expatriates and exiles in Florida and in the banking industry, but the repub party will always screw the "little guy" in the end.

[bdamomma]

1. yea now bush is kicking them to the curb

[teenagebambam]

2. Values voters

I have no personal knowledge of this, mind you, but I've heard from people whose opinion I trust, that it's because of the large number of conservative Catholic Hispanic voters.

[fencesitter]

5. remember (he said whistfully)

when most Catholics voted democratic?

[JuniperLea]

3. I've seen tons of W stickers on cars driven by Hispanics

I can only hope they have ceased the Kool Aid consumption and have learned that the GOP is not on their side.

[El Zopilote]

23. Hispanic bumper stickers

I like the one that is gaining in popularity which says "¡Gringo, vete a tu casa!" (Gringo, go home). For awhile these bumper stickers were homemade, but now you can buy commercially printed ones on the Net.

Anyone know how to start a new thread topic on this forum? I don't see anything to click on to.

[JuniperLea]

36. Welcome to DU, El Z!

I think you have to make a certain number of posts before you are allowed to start a thread. I'm sure it's noted somewhere in the rules.

[RagingInMiami]

4. That turned out to be a lie

I think in some parts of central Florida, Mel Martinez was able to get the PR vote.

But even in Miami, where the Cuban right-wingers traditionally have voted republican, more and more Cubans are switching parties.

[benburch]

6. Because we have done such a horrifically bad job at organizing them!

What is REALLY needed is to have YOU (yes, YOU!) join your local Democratic Party and then canvass door-to-door in Hispanic districts in your area!

When people see that you care enough to come to their door and express an interest in hearing what they have to say, they will become Democrats in large numbers.

But, without YOU in the equation, we will lose to the GOP each and every time.

[madrchsod]

8. oops

zamora isn`t running in the 14th..oh well another missed opportunity. maybe the guy that won will succeed in getting the mexican-americans to vote for him instaed of fat denny

[benburch]

17. John Laesch is a dynamic fellow.

And he seems to understand the value of grass roots organizing.

Would I have been more comfortable with Ruben Zamora? Yep. I was a donor and I canvassed my neighborhood for him.

But I now 100% support John Laesch!

http://www.john06.com/ <--- Toss him $5, please? Help him give the Evil, Feckless Dennis Hastert the run of his life!

[Cleita]

15. I'm happy to say that my local Democrats club has quite a

few Mexican Americans in it who are very active in the community for Democratic causes.

[Bridget Burke]

20. So does mine.

But I'm in Texas--another Border state. We aren't as fearful & misinformed as those in more northerly regions.

[Minnesota Libra]

7. So I was told - by Hispanics - that the GOP is seen as being..............

....pro family, pro military/pro defense, pro religion, and "pro everything that Hispanics hold dear". :shrug:

[Cleita]

13. You're right.

However, many are seeing that liberals are more concerned about their interests. This is why communism and worker's rights movements are on the rise in Latin America.

[EFerrari]

31. "Pro military/pro defense" doesn't sound like the community I know.

The community I know has lost a family member or a friend to death squads or thugs in uniform.

Is your Hispanic friend a Cuban who left when Castro came to power or what?

[slackmaster]

38. Add "pro-business" to your list

I know many Hispanics who are Republicans.

One of them is even openly gay. He is self-employed.

:hide:

[Cleita]

9. The Cubans were the elite in Cuba who exploited the workers

so of course they tend to be Republican. Also, Latinos get sucked in with the family values mantra. In spite of what you see on TV about sexy Latinos, they are actually very conservative on account of centuries of brainwashing by the Catholic Church.

[El Zopilote]

10. Lo siento, amigo. You read it wrong

You sure got the wrong impression from somewhere. Very few Hispanics vote Republican. Lots of Cubans in south Florida vote GOP because they don't like Fidel. All other Hispanics vote Democrat and understandably and increasingly so. No se preocupe. Hispanics know a bigot when they see one. Ja, ja, ja.

[Blue_Tires]

26. welcome to the site!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. Nope. You've gotten the wrong signals.

[EFerrari]

28. You're right. Hispanics vote Blue. This is more bullshit. n/t

[slackmaster]

35. Provide a source for this information, please

n/t

[EFerrari]

45. Google is your friend. n/t

[question everything]

12. Not all hispanics are the "little guy"

Many are small business men and women and as such dislike government and government regulations. They don't like to be subjected to the various regulatory agencies rules. They still believe that Democrats are for big government, ha!

As small business owners they dislike being told how much to pay their employees (minimum wage) and to pay payroll and disability taxes, as well as contributing to unemployment insurance.

And this is the problem that the Democratic party is having. During the past 20 years, or so, the number of small business owners, of self-employed and other, outside the regular "corporate world" has expanded. Some of us were forced to be self-employed our corporate job became redundant.

When you employ other people you realize how much intrusive the government is in the way you run your business.

For example, the recent rule that all employers should provide health care to their employers. It can be a hardship for many small business owners who are just trying to make a living. The result very well may be the laying off of employees.

[fencesitter]

22. This is true

Although I'm a self-employed business owner too. Most of my bretheren are anti-tax, anti-regulation and anti-liberal. The GOP still isn't talking to me and my issues.

[fencesitter]

14. From the Nat'l Republican Hispanic Website.

I believe the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person's dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.

I believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.

I believe free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.

I believe government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.

I believe the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations and that the best government is that which governs the least.

I believe the most effective, responsible and responsive government is the government closest to the people.

I believe Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.

I believe Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom, and human rights throughout the world.


Hey! That sounds like the Democratic Party!

[Cleita]

19. They sound like a bunch of freaking socialists except we

know they lie about everything and their actions betray what they really stand for.

[norml]

16. I don't know. Did you read that? Where did you read that?

Because I have a hard time believing that most of their vote went that way.

Are you talking about national elections, or some local election.

I'd have to know what you're referring to, before I go looking for polling data.

[Bridget Burke]

18. What's your source?

Got any statistics?

A strictly anecdotal report from Houston's parade, yesterday:

A Houston schoolteacher, who asked not to be identified, joined the march with his undocumented Guatemalan wife and 3-year-old daughter. They carried a sign that attacked popular conservative talk show host Michael Savage, asking him "Who's your gardener?"

The Hispanic man recently left the Republican Party and became a Democrat because he said he can't shake the feeling that the national immigration debate has become "racist."

A U.S. House proposal would make helping an undocumented immigrant a crime.

www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3785352.html

This Immigration "Crisis" will surely drive others from the Republican Party.

[lastliberalintexas]

24. The fact that he *ever* voted republican astonishes me

Even though I guess it shouldn't. A Mexican American I know once told me that he doesn't vote because one party wants to "send him back" (to a place he never was, since he was born in SE Texas) and the other wants to kill babies. Voters of any race can be nutso.

[fencesitter]

27. No, I just remember being suprised when

I read that after the '04 election. It made an impression, so I remembered.

[Bridget Burke]

29. Well, I read about UFO's landing in East Texas.

But I'm not sure where I found the story.

[fencesitter]

33. They did! I Read that too!

n/p

[RB TexLa]

40. Hey, I've seen that landing site outside of Longview!

:hi:

[mitchtv]

21. Don't worry, that shit is over

the Latinos see through the Puke BS, and are coming home. They know that immigrant is pukecode for Latino, and as the crowds show , they take it personally

[Zorra]

25. Hispanic vote was 44% for Bu*h according to CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html

One possible problem that I see with Hispanic voters is that a substantial number of them do not read or understand the English language very well, and many of them are not particularly well educated. They often do not have an understanding of US historical social and political background.

This, to my mind, makes them, in general, particularly susceptible to RW corporate propaganda media, particularly Fox TV news.

[Le Taz Hot]

30. Because they tell them,

among other things, that Democrats advocate killing babies and that God will punish them if they vote for a Democrat. And yes, I've actually WITNESSED this one.

[KansDem]

32. The jury's still out on this one...

A Growing Voice

December 2004, HISPANIC BUSINESS Magazine


The 2004 presidential election will be marked as a time when a record number of Hispanic voters went to the polls, and two Hispanics – Ken Salazar of Colorado and Mel Martinez of Florida – were catapulted to office in the U.S. Senate for the first time in nearly three decades.
What may not be clear yet, however, is whether it eventually also will be seen as a clear demarkation of the electorate's growing sophistication and power – and evolution from a stalwart piece of the Democratic Party base to an unpredictable and perhaps fragmented swing-voter group.

National Electoral Pool results showed 44 percent of Hispanic voters chose President Bush, up 8 percentage points from the 2000 elections and the most for any Republican presidential candidate in decades. But those results are being questioned by analysts and others who note that a poll by voting rights group the William C. Velásquez Institute showed that only 31 percent voted for Mr. Bush (about comparable to the 2000 election).

Robert Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C., notes that the exit poll that found 44 percent of Hispanics voting Republican also calculated that Hispanics made up 8 percent of all voters. That translates into more than 9 million Hispanic voters, up from 6 million in 2000. But current estimates put the number of registered Hispanic voters in the country at 10 million, "so we're talking 90 percent turnout," says Mr. Suro. "It's just not credible."
(more)
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=19459&cat=Magazine&more=/magazine/

Consider these two observations:

Hispanic voting patterns were especially intriguing in Florida and Colorado, both of which Bush won with 52 percent of the overall vote. Growing numbers of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and other non-Cuban Hispanics in Florida are seen as diluting the GOP's influence on that state's Hispanic vote. That may have contributed to Hispanics supporting Republican Mel Martinez for Senate and Senator Kerry for president by comparable percentages.

Conversely, 74 percent of Colorado Hispanics voted for Senator Kerry, according to Zogby's polling, significantly better than the 61 percent (of Hispanics) he drew nationally. The appearance on that state's ballot of two well-known Hispanic Democrats who won their races – Ken Salazar for Senate and his brother John for the House of Representatives – was seen as a likely influence.

[fencesitter]

34. Thanks for that!

[slackmaster]

37. "Ethnic" voting patterns become less significant with each generation

As people become assimilated into society as a whole, they become more like the general population in every respect.

Banking on Hispanics to vote a particular way is usually a mistake.

[XemaSab]

39. They're Catholics and very family-oriented

And they're as happy to jump on the gay-bashing anti-abortion bandwagon as the rest of America.

[LeftHander]

41. fastest growing population segment....

So it is the fastest growing Dem population to.
And many other populations as well...again this is simple spin the GOP puts on anything.

fastest growing segment in gay population....

fastest growing population segment in organized labor...

Adn no other GOP population segments are growing....

[stanwyck]

42. Yesterday gave every politician the willies

all those thousands of immigrants in the street. The Hispanic community is the fastest growing community. Period. The prediction is that our country will be predominantly Hispanic in the next 30 years.
They have larger families. And more marry and reproduce. (look around your office. How many adult white people do you have who are childless? We have many.)
The illegals aren't going away. Corporate America wants them here. You can't make obscene profits, not just profits, but OBSCENE profits without people who work below minimum wage with no benefits.
They're here. And they'll join the legal Hispanic community as voters.
With elections running closer and closer, neither party can give-up any slice. The Republicans will continue to kowtow to the crazy fundies because they have to have their votes. That slight edge has put the Republicans over in race after race. They can't afford to lose that slice.
So. With millions of Hispanic votes hanging in the balance, the race is on to get their votes.
Forget soccer moms and Nascar dads.
Hola to our nuevo amigos and amigas, legal or not.
We want your vote.

[gatorboy]

43. Can you vote if you're illegal?

eom

[stanwyck]

46. No. But the illegals aren't going back

and so they'll either become legals with voting rights. Or they won't. But their children will be legal. With voting rights.
The Hispanic community is rapidly growing and with that growth will be more political clout.
Our political parties will have to effectively address their demands. They wield too much power to be ignored.
Whichever party gets their first has a big advantage.

[CrazyForKucinich]

44. Because GW Bush doesn't speak english and neither do they...

Best reason I can come up with.

[tomp]

47. because they're the fastest growing segment of the population...

...and they're just as stupid as the rest of americans. duh.

[lildreamer316]

48. They are the fastest growing segment of ANYTHING.;

because their population is growing so rapidly here. Look at it in context.

[SoCalDem]

49. The OLD Cubans are dying off..They were the "republican ones"

The first wave of Cubans made it out with some resources, and were the ones who set up businesses in Miami. By the time my family escaped, they were not allowed to bring ANYTHING with them, Their suitcases were confiscated in Havana, and they arrived with their ID and nothing else, so they were the ones needing the mnost help. My family had a picture of Kennedy , and were staunch democrats..

The early ones (professionals & businesspeople) were the republicans..they are mostly gone now..Their children benefitted greatly from the safety net, and are college grads..Liberal colleges didn't turn out many republicans in the 70's & 80's..

Republicans still "claim" the Cubans, but I dobt they get all the support they think they have. I have a sneaky feeling that the Cuban "aftershocks" are not as republican as their grandparents were.

[RagingInMiami]

50. And after the Bay of Pigs

The original wave of Cubans were able to manipulate the second and third wave of Cubans, who were largely working class people, into believing that the democrats do not have the best interest of Cuba at hand.

I live in a Cuban neighborhood in Miami where a lot of the old timers drive around with their Viva Bush stickers. But I've talked to a lot of the older Cubans one-on-one and they're sick of Bush. It's not something many of them will admit openly in front of "la ventana" where they drink their "cafecito", but it's happening.