Fresno attorney offers valuable advice to Joe Biden on how to capture the Latino vote

Approximately 32 million Latinos are eligible to vote this year, according to the Pew Research Center. Young Latinos are an increasing voting block, adding 5 million voters. This voting block consists of Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Salvadorians, etc. Yet, Latinos are addressed as a monolithic group by the Democratic party. “Viva Kennedy”, “Viva Johnson”, “Viva Hillary!” are the standard slogans invoked by Democratic pundits. In essence, the same message to a diverse group.

This year, the obligatory visit to a Mexican restaurant by a candidate will not convince Latino voters that they should vote for one party vs. another. The ability of a candidate to speak one sentence in Spanish is not encouraging, either. Finally, adopting “hip” terms like Latinx ignores older Latino voters who do not know what a Latinx person is.

In Wisconsin, of the approximate 160,000 eligible Latino voters, 65.2 are of Mexican origin while 23.9 are Puerto Rican. A one-size-fits-all message to Latinos in Wisconsin will not work as the issues facing the two groups are vastly different. In Pennsylvania, national origin is approximately 10.8 Mexican, 63.9 Puerto Rican, 3.3 percent Cuban, etc. Again, a one-size-fits-all message will not work. Florida is populated by many of Cuban origin. Even within the Cuban community, vastly different messaging is needed for younger Cubans born in the USA and anti-Castro Cubans that immigrated to the USA. Democrats can win Cuban votes with directed messaging to each group. In Texas, the message that works in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania or Florida will not get out the vote in the Lone Star state.

As obvious as it is to Mexican Americans that we are not Cubans, Democratic pundits choose to lobby Latinos with the same message. If Democrats want the Latino vote in November, it is time to engage in specific targeted messaging to win the Hispanic vote. Trump spent little money in the Latino community in 2016, but received support anyway and continues to receive support this term. The Trump campaign stepped up visible efforts to attract Hispanic voters by hosting the president of Mexico and praising businesses like Goya foods. In addition, the Trump campaign invokes the voice of Latin American strongmen in ads to attack Biden. The message? Biden supports the totalitarian dictators they fled from. Democratic shock and awe at misleading messaging will not combat its’ effectiveness. The Democrats must answer Trump locally in the neighborhoods where Latino voters live and work. Otherwise, the smoke-and-mirrors strategy of the Trump campaign will work against Biden.

The Democratic strategy that a one-size-fits-all message for Latinos is that it does not inform Latinos where the candidate stands. A slogan-only campaign without a focus on a community’s problems will fare well in a musical “corrido” but will not bring out the votes. Contrast the traditional “Viva Biden” slogan with Trump’s messaging and you see the difference. Whatever your feelings are about Donald Trump, you know where he stands from his messaging and policies.

For example, when it comes to immigration, you know he is against it and he will use extraordinary means to keep immigrants out. Contrast that with Democratic messaging on issues and you get a pod of confusion. The current Biden strategy is to have political advertising voice-overs reflect the community that is being targeted. Ads targeted at Cubans “sound” like Cubans, ads directed at Puerto Ricans “sound” like Puerto Ricans, etc. This strategy is not working because it ignores the fact that Latinos are Americans, too. These are complicated times and the Latino communities are watching and listening. But you have to address issues if you want the Latino vote.

To mobilize Latinos, the former vice president’s campaign must bring into his campaign Latinos from every community where Latinos live and work. This begins by having boots on the ground now and recruiting local talent as opposed to having only national personalities in the campaign. Substantial financial investment in grass-roots, community-based organizations to get out the vote will work if the message addresses the community’s specific needs. But it must be done one community at a time.

A sleeping giant no more, Latinos realize they have choices. It is up to the Biden campaign to demonstrate why Latinos should vote blue.

This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 11:12 AM.