How Will Latinos Vote on Election Day?

My cousin recently called me from London. He’s living there for the next couple of years, but he still keeps an eye on news from America. He was upset, close to apocalyptic in fact, about the upcoming elections.

“Those Republicans are crazy,” he said. “You need to write a piece telling Hispanics that they have to vote for Democrats.”

My immediate reaction was that my cousin had a greatly exaggerated impression of just how influential I really am. He was so agitated, however, that I didn’t get a chance to tell him that or my secondary issue. Namely, it’s rather arrogant for me to tell people that it’s their racial duty to vote for anybody, especially when Democrats haven’t exactly been whiz-bang in getting Latino issues to the forefront.

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Latinos could be the block that prevents a GOP takeover of Congress. The nasty Reid-Angle contest in Nevada is just one battle in which Hispanic turnout might be the decisive factor.

Some polls indicate that Latinos are so discouraged that they’ll refrain from casting a ballot for anyone. Still, if they do vote, there is little chance that they will turn out for the Republicans.

As I’ve written before, conservatives seem content, eager in fact, to adopt a modified Southern Strategy that focuses on the rage and fear of white conservatives.

Such an approach necessitates an object of scorn, the fabled Other to take the blame for all the calamities that have befallen the country. Latinos work pretty well in this context.

The problem, for the GOP at least, is that it comes across as the bad guy when courting Hispanic voters. Conservatives, however, seem unfazed at this development. Rather than pull back on, for example, advertisements that demonize Latinos, Republicans have double-downed on firing up white people’s anger and fear.

Indeed, some conservatives have basically given up on capturing Latinos’ votes. As such, they’ve shifted priorities and are now just trying to talk Hispanics into not voting at all. It’s an interesting, albeit grotesquely unpatriotic, maneuver.

It could be worse, of course. Angry white men could be stomping on Latinos’ heads (but they seem to reserve that treatment for liberal women).

Short of outright physical violence, then, it could not be clearer that Republicans are uninterested in addressing Latinos’ concerns. The question is whether this disdain is enough to motivate Hispanics to vote for the Democrats.

I’m sure that my cousin in London hopes that the answer is yes.

Photo Credit: April Zosia