What else does a Latino voter need, given Trump and his administration’s repeated, systematic, egregious treatment of people of color, ESPECIALLY Latinos?
Why doesn’t Joe Biden’s record and platform speak for itself?
Why does Biden’s campaign have to focus on (and devote additional resources to) a constituency which — by any standards — should ALREADY be firmly in his corner?
Why shouldn’t Biden be able to take the Latino vote for granted — when the choice is so clear?
The punditry is full of Democratic hand-wringing about polls showing that Joe Biden is trailing the performance of Hillary Clinton in terms of margin among Latino voters — especially in Florida. Recently, there have been dozens of articles in publications like The New Yorker, The Hill, CNN.com, CBSNews.com, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USNews.com, etc. in which Biden’s “Latino Problem” is examined. Just Google “Biden Latino Support” and see what you find. It’s distressing.
Embedded in these reports, we hear complaints about the lack of voter-outreach, the lack of Spanish language advertising (with the right accents by region, no less), the lack of in-person contact (as if that’s possible in a pandemic era), the lack of field offices, even the lack of cash payments to “politiqueras” in the Rio Grande Valley to deliver votes.
All these grievances are typically rolled up into the “he is taking us for granted” narrative. Somehow the amount of “attention” paid to Latinos seems to be overriding the cold hard reality of the clear choice for these voters.
Frankly, I’m sick of hearing about “communities” who feel as though they need to be pandered to in order to deliver their support to Biden in 2020, regardless of how starkly the two candidates differ (do you hear me Bernie Bros?). If you look at the record of Biden vs. Trump, at their policies, at their rhetoric and just at the respective character of the two candidates — why should anything else matter? Especially worrying about how much (or little) the campaign is catering to them?
Does any Latino American really think he/she should not vote for Biden when they consider the following:
- Latino communities — from Texas to Florida to Arizona to New York — have been disproportionately ravaged by the COVID pandemic thanks to Trump’s incompetent response. Do Latino voters really want to be subject to more of this devastation?
- Latinos have been subject to a rising tide of hatred, discriminatory acts and even mass murder (remember El Paso?) — all inspired by the vitriolic hatred spewed by Trump and his followers. Do Latino voters really relish the reality that this bigotry and intolerance will only grow with another Trump victory?
- The Trump Administration has literally put would be Latino immigrants and asylum seekers — including women and babies — in CAGES. Do Latino voters really want this de-humanizing policy to continue for another four years?
- Donald Trump and his administration have blatantly ignored the suffering of Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria (who can forget the image of Trump throwing rolls of paper towels at citizens)? Do Latino voters really think anything will improve in Puerto Rico if Trump wins again?
- The Trump Administration has carried out involuntary sterilizations (hysterectomies) of migrant detainees in Georgia. Do Latino voters really want this type of blatant racist population control to go unpunished?
- It was the Obama-Biden administration that created DACA, and the Trump administration that is doing everything possible to destroy it. Do Latino voters really want to see millions of productive young people sent back to a country they likely don’t even remember?
- Donald Trump’s administration that has been completely impotent in addressing the crisis in Venezuela, delivering empty rhetoric instead of real pressure to Maduro’s failed regime. Do Latino voters really want to see Venezuelans continue to suffer with no hope in sight?
- The Trump Administration has closed the doors and reversed progress towards openness in Cuba; the result — as always — is a ruination of the hopes of many regular Cuban citizens. Do Latino voters really think that returning to the failed Boycott Cuba policies of the past 60 years will achieve anything positive for the Cuban people?
- Finally, let’s not forget that Donald Trump called Mexicans “rapists and murderers” on the first day of his campaign, and has rarely let up on his degrading language since then. Do Latino voters really prefer four more years of being villainized
BTW, none of the examples above — which are just a small sampling of the bias and and depredation shown daily by the Trump administration towards people with Latino backgrounds — should be considered solely “Latino issues”. They are HUMAN issues. They are issues ALL Americans of good faith and moral character are concerned about.
As far as the dedication of resources and effort, do Latino voters really believe they should receive more attention than the white, college-educated suburbanites who have the numbers to defeat Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan? Or that they deserve more focus than the black communities in Miami-Dade, Orlando, Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, whose tepid turnout in 2016 allowed Trump to take power?
Does this problem really boil down to ego vs. self-interest? At some point ALL voters need to buck up, look in the mirror and decide what is best for themselves, their families, their communities and their country. Anything other than a vote for Joe Biden in 2020 — including NOT voting out of pique at a perceived slight (or any other reason) — is democracy’s version of attempting a murder-suicide. God forbid that Latino voters (or Bernie Bros, or Black Voters, or young voters) decide they’d rather make a statement than do the right thing.
p.s. — I know that the Latino vote is NOT monolithic. I realize there are unique and different concerns between Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Venezulean-Americans and many other groups. But in the end we are ALL Americans. And anyone who believes in the American way of life should be self-motivated enough to vote in 2020 — without having to have their hands held.
