The New Yorker is alarmed by the renewed support for Republicans among Hispanic voters. President Donald John Trump received 32% of the Hispanic vote -- 5 points more than Romney's 27%.
The frightening thing for Democrats is Donald Trump did this without being Democrat Lite. Alfonso Aguilar, a Bush 43 alumnus, explained the president's appeal to the New Yorker: true inclusion.
Aguilar said, "You’re including me because you’re seeing me as an American—you’re not seeing me as a Hispanic that’s separate. Democrats just don’t understand this, because they follow the modern theories of all multiculturalism. Well, to me, that’s not true inclusion—that’s separating people. That’s marginalizing people. I think President Trump made them feel like part of America."
Bingo.
People don't come to America to be what they were. They come here to be Americans.
Make no mistake, Hispanics and other ethnic groups maintain their cultural identity. And unlike Italians, Poles, and other immigrants from European nations, Hispanics continue to speak Spanish.
Democrats are learning that unlike black people, Hispanics are not a monolithic group. They are Cubans, Puerto Ricans, et al. And Chicanos in California are distinct from Tex-Mex people. Indeed, when Chico and the Man aired in the 1970s, Chicanos complained that the actor spoke and acted like as Puerto Rican, which Freddie Prinze was. And Sofia Vergara complained that her character on Modern Family was originally written as a Mexican, not a Colombian, which is where she was born.
Donald Trump realized those distinctions.
And churches matter. While Democrats succeeded in using black churches to preach their gospel, most Hispanics are Catholic with some, like Ted Cruz, becoming evangelical Christians.
The New Yorker reported, "To explain Trump’s appeal, Aguilar also pointed to his Administration’s support for religious liberty and the right to life. From early on in his Presidency, Trump made inroads with evangelical leaders, and during his four years in office he talked about the right to life, school choice, and prayer in schools. At a church in Miami, Trump said, 'America was not built by religion-hating socialists” but, rather, “by churchgoing, God-worshiping, freedom-loving patriots.' There were also his Supreme Court picks, including, most recently, Amy Coney Barrett."
None of President Trump's picks were Hispanic, but all appealed to a sizeable portion of Hispanic voters.
That is a huge lesson for Republicans.
To be sure, Democrats still own the Hispanic vote as Democrats received twice as many votes from people whose ancestry is from the 20 or so Latin American countries.
Pandering works.
Or is that in the past tense?
The New Yorker reported, "It’s not clear how or whether Democrats will combat the momentum felt by Latino Republicans. For some of them, acknowledging Trump’s greater share of the Latino vote amounts to blaming Latinos for the close election, as though they failed to fulfill a promise. Acknowledging the shift could also have consequences for how Democrats think about their coalition, what kind of investments they should make in Latino communities going forward, and what their platform should be on immigration, education, health care, and many other issues.
"In the White House, Joe Biden will have the opportunity to show Latinos that they’re important to the Democratic coalition. First, though, Democrats will have to acknowledge that a shift did, in fact, take place. Carlos Odio, of the progressive Latino firm Equis Research, told me that it makes Latino Democrats uncomfortable to consider the move by some Latinos toward Trump, because 'if you view Donald Trump as being the raging racist that he is, the guy who put Stephen Miller in charge of our immigration system, then people say, Well, shouldn’t it be Latinos who fight back, who lead the charge?' Odio said that, in upcoming elections, he hopes Latinos will get 'the white working-class treatment.' He added, 'I don’t need a Latino Hillbilly Elegy—we can pass on that part. But I think the rest of it would be great to see.' "
It never occurs to Democrats that many Hispanics want to end illegal immigration. MS-13 targets law-abiding Hispanics who are here legally.
And it never occurs to Democrats that Hispanics are individuals.
President Trump showed how to win over the majority of Hispanic voters, not just 32%.
Republicans can build on that, but history shows they won't.
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