The Hispanic Vote

The two major U.S. parties have officially nominated their candidates for the November election; the fight between Mitt Romney from the Republican Party and Barack Obama from the Democratic Party to seduce the electorate has started.

They need to win the vote of minorities representing 28 percent of the electorate. The African-American population, as in 2008, will vote overwhelmingly for Obama, but the Hispanic vote seems less committed and both candidates implement strategies to attract them.

The first strategy was to involve Hispanic political stars in the conventions. The GOP introduced Cuban-Hispanic Florida senator Mario Rubio,* who likes to say that his family was forced to migrate by the bearded ones. His parents, in fact, migrated to Florida two and a half years prior to the arrival of the bearded ones.

The Democratic Party introduced Mexican-Hispanic Mayor of San Antonio Julian Castro, who was reelected last year in the Republican state of Texas, with 83 percent of the vote. The differences between Hispanic-Cubans and Hispanic-Mexicans hinder the unity of this growing electorate. “We are not Marco Rubios,” states the “spot” advertising by a Mexican organization that accuses Rubio of having supported the anti-immigration law in Arizona.

Four years ago, Hispanics voted overwhelmingly for Obama; his strategists believe they can exceed 2008’s 67 percent. Republicans cannot forget that Ronald Reagan claimed that Hispanics are Republican, but do not know it. Nor do they forget that George Bush had 44 percent of the Hispanic vote for his reelection. This time, to win over Hispanics, the Romney team says the Republican Party offers a land of opportunity and entrepreneurship. They argue that Obama betrayed Hispanics because he did not fulfill the promise to pass an immigration law during his first year in office and that Romney’s father was born in Mexico. They hide the fact that it was the Republican Party that thwarted the immigration law proposed by Obama; that among all Republican candidates, Romney was the most extreme against illegals; and that his supporters have proposed voter registration laws to keep them away from the polls. If they cannot manage to get them to vote for Romney, they have to get them to stay home and not vote for Obama.

President Obama carefully cultivates the Hispanic electorate. He has offered temporary protection preventing deportation of immigrants studying in the U.S., and promises, during his second term, approval of the immigration law that could resolve the status of 11.5 million illegals. The Hispanic vote has weight in American politics.

* Editor’s note: Marco Rubio is the senator’s actual name.