Memo From Middle America | Hispanic Campaign Consultants Says Trump Needs Hispanics (And Them). Wrong!
05/26/2016
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Well, here we go again. Univision’s English language outlet Fusion says Donald Trump will be crushed by the Latino vote. But a close examination shows the same old mistaken premises and faulty assumptions about immigration and politics that the MSM and Hispanic campaign consultants (where distinguishable) have been making for years.

Enrique Acevedo argues the Republican Party has suffered because of how it handled the immigration issue. He credits Democratic triumphs in 1996 and 2012 as well as Democratic control of California to Latino voters reacting against Republican support for restrictions on immigration . [Trump can’t get to the White House without the Latino vote, by April 26, 2016] Once again, we hear about the supposedly dire effects of Proposition 187 in California and how it doomed Republicans forever.

But this ignores history. Proposition 187 passed overwhelmingly and led to the victory of Governor Pete Wilson. It’s the California GOP’s inability to win enough of the white vote in the state that’s killing it. Acevedo blames Mitt Romney’s line about “self-deportation” for his defeat, but Romney’s lack of fighting spirit had more to do with his defeat than his (rather wobbly) immigration position.

Indeed, much of Acevedo’s article is just an attempt to scare Republicans into surrender by calling the GOP names. Senator Jeff Sessions and  Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach are cited as allegedly scary figures. “Loud voices from the radical fringe” have “hijack[ed]’” the party. And there is much gloating about increased Latino voter registration:

More than 13 million Latino voters are expected to cast their ballots in November. Latinos could decide key races in states like Florida, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia….Make no mistake, Latinos will come out to vote in record numbers in November. And their vote will prove, once again, that in this new American reality no one can get the White House without a broad and diverse coalition that includes Latino voters.
What this really implies is that white votes are somehow automatically illegitimate. The “radical fringe”? Don’t most Americans want our border secured and the law enforced?  Yes—except the La Raza lobby. And who are these new voters anyway? As I’ve reported, the Mexican government is even involved in all this.

Acevedo says that “to Hispanic America, Trump is the new Proposition 187.” If that’s true, Trump is going to win the election. But Acevedo seems to believe his own propaganda that opposing immigration necessarily leads to political disaster.

And he’s not alone. Adrian Pantoja writes at Latino Decisions that Trump is very unpopular among Latino voters, with 79% of those polled saying they were “very unfavorable.” Pantoja claims Latino voters are eager to vote simply to defeat Donald Trump [Latino voters eager to turnout against Trump and the GOP in 2016, April 27, 2016.) He reports 48% of respondents were “more enthusiastic” about voting in the 2016 election than they were in 2012, and 41% responded that it was from the desire to beat Trump. The poll also revealed “Nearly three out of four Latino voters believe the GOP has shunned Latino voters,” 42% says the GOP “doesn’t care too much about Latinos,” and 31% described the GOP as “sometimes hostile toward Latinos.”

Much could happen between now and November. But a website called “Latino Decisions” might have a vested interest in saying politicians need to pander to Latinos as Latinos. Indeed, it doesn’t take much digging to find that two members of the group, Barreto and Segura, have been working for the Hillary campaign as consultants. [impreMedia/Latino Decisions Battleground States Survey, Latino Decisions, November 9, 2015]

As the presidential election is really about the Electoral College, the real question is about how Latino voters matter in each state, especially swing states. After all, nobody expects the Republicans to take California or the Democrats to take Texas, so the Hispanic votes in those states don’t matter. Whatever these polls say, Latino turnout has historically not been high.

For that reason, this Main Stream Media agitation isn’t just to get Republicans to surrender. It’s to make Latinos angry and frightened enough to show up. And the MSM is being helped by activists and the Mexican government to specifically recruit more anti-Trump voters.

An article in the Los Angeles -based La Opinión (America’s biggest Spanish language periodical) exhorts Algún día me haré ciudadano”… no esperes, hazlo ahora (‘“Some day I’ll become a citizen” – Don’t wait, do it now’) by Virginia Gaglianone, April 6, 2016]. The article  informs the reader of a Gran Feria de Ciudadanía [Great Citizenship Fair] in Long Beach that can help you get naturalized in time to vote in the election.

Trump’s boasts notwithstanding, it’s doubtful he will win the Hispanic vote outright. But VDARE.com has repeatedly outlined, under the rubric of the “Sailer Strategy,” what the Republicans need to do is win a larger share of the white vote. The Trump Campaign is showing this is possible, and the once-forbidden “white vote” is finally being discussed in the MSM.

For example, it’s even mentioned in Hispanic voter registration spikes, by Rafael Bernal, The Hill, April 27, 2016. After the conventional wisdom about how Trump is doomed, you find this:

Jon Ralston, a veteran Nevada political journalist… said, “The real problem is that Trump, and, to a lesser degree, Cruz, will drive up Hispanic turnout against Republicans."

He said the only path for the GOP nominee to the White House in such a situation would be to win more white votes.

Ralston described this as “a path we have never seen before. Huge increase in white vote.”

Bernal suggested that’s not likely. But Trump has already been able to attract far more votes than past Republican nominees.
….Donald Trump has passed Mitt Romney’s popular vote total from four years ago and is on a trajectory that could land him more Republican votes than any presidential candidate in modern history – by a lot. Trump surged to more than 10 million votes, according to totals that include Tuesday’s preliminary results across the Northeast. That’s already about 250,000 more than Romney earned in the entire 2012 primary season and 153,000 more than John McCain earned in 2008. More significantly, Trump is positioned to easily pass the modern record-holder, George W. Bush, who collected 10.8 million votes in 2000. That presents an uncomfortable reality for anti-Trump forces: they’re attempting to thwart the candidate who is likely to win more Republican primary votes than any GOP contender in at least the last 36 years, and maybe ever.

[Trump passes Romney’s popular vote total, likely to break GOP record, by Kyle Cheney, Politico, April 27, 2016]

And AP and Real Clear Politics have announced that, not only had Trump surpassed the magic number of 1,237 delegates (by accumulating 1,239 delegates), but also that
The Republican Party has set a party record this year in pre-convention state election turnout with over 28 million votes to date which is 136% of the record high voter turnout in 2008. That’s four million more votes than the Democratic primary race this year. There are five states left to vote including California.  This increase in votes can be attributed to Donald Trump.

REPUBLICAN PARTY Sets Primary Turnout Record - 28 Million Votes with 5 States Left by Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit, May 26, 2016 (updated May 27)

Despite all the hypocritical hand-wringing from the anti-Trump Republicans, Trump is bringing in the votes. Trump’s appeal is broad and geographically diverse. If Trump can win working class white votes and win even a slightly larger share of Hispanic votes than a typical Republican, he has a path to victory. He can rewrite the campaign playbook. Why not? He’s been doing it so far.

Unlike Romney, Trump is a fighter. Unlike Dole, Trump is aggressively talking about border security, trade, and a less interventionist foreign policy, allowing him to operate as a real populist. Unlike a typical Republican, Trump is appealing to Latinos as fellow Americans, with the same interests as other citizens and workers—something I have repeatedly advocated. And unlike just about everyone else, Trump continues to defy the increasingly unpopular Politically Correct regime.

The MSM Narrative molders mock, but only a fool would count Trump out now.

American citizen Allan Wall (email him) moved back to the U.S.A. in 2008 after many years residing in Mexico. Allan's wife is Mexican, and their two sons are bilingual. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here ; his News With Views columns are archived here; and his website is here.

 

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