Democrats already are worried about the 2020 vote in Florida, noting a a strong surge toward more conservative candidates in 2018.
The Miami Herald outlined the reasons for the concern.
Nearly two-third of the 2.2 million Hispanics in the state voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. But last year Hispanics delivered, albeit by narrow margins, the governor’s office and a Senate seat that had been held by Democrats to the Republican Party.
That’s while Hispanics in the rest of the country were helping Democrats take the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
That trend has prompted Trump’s campaign manager to announce the launch of a national Hispanic outreach effort in Florida.
The report explained in 2018 the Hispanic vote was largely older and Cuban, a “demographic that votes reliably Republican,” and Democrats Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson were getting only about 54 percent of the Hispanic vote. They opposed Rep. Ron DeSantis and then-Gov. Rick Scott in the races for governor and Senate.
So the Democrats now wonder if that trend will continue, and Trump Campaign Manager Brad Parscale told the Herald internal data show the president is in better shape than in 2016.
“The Trump brand and Trump personally, as you would expect, is rather toxic, but his policies are not – even the ones people would ordinarily think are anathema to Latino voters,” said GOP donor John Jordan.
AÂ McLaughlin poll found Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders ahead of Trump in polling but revealed a “messaging campaign” could turn that.
Nearly half of those queried believe the country is “headed in the right direction,” the poll said.
Large portions of the population there also arrived in the U.S. legally, meaning they are often aligning with the president on his campaign against illegal immigration.
Democrats therefore are trying to regain ground and “claw back” Hispanics, the report said.
Rick Junquera, a Democratic activist, claimed in the report, “We’re right on the issues, we’re just not communicating it as effectively.”
The Democratic presence will rise next week when the top 20 presidential candidates go head-to-head in two nights of debates.
The Trump campaign to reach Hispanics will launch in Miami the day before the Democratic debates.
Steve Cortes at Real Clear Politics said the Hispanic support for Trump is surging.
And another factor is that the “overall well-being” is improving under Trump.
“So much good news erupted … for the president with the conclusion of the Mueller inquiry that stunning new polling data was largely glossed over. McLaughlin & Associates revealed that Hispanic approval for Trump in March jumped to 50 percent. This number matched the January Marist/NPR/PBS survey that shocked cynics with its own 50 percent approval finding. Even if those polls are too aggressive, February’s Morning Consult/Politico poll showed Trump’s Hispanic approval vaulting to a still-impressive 45 percent.”
He noted the Hispanic jobless rate now has been below 5 percent for 11 months, something that never had happened before, and jobs are paying more.
He also explained Democratic politicians assume Hispanics espouse being soft of illegal immigration, but they don’t.
“Too often, Hispanic workers must compete against unfair, illegal labor. In addition, dangerous illegal aliens largely terrorize Hispanic citizens,” he explained.
And the Democrats’ huge lurch left on social issues is alienating the largely Catholic and evangelical Hispanic community.
Pointing out that Hispanics are about twice as likely to identify as “conservative” as non-Hispanics, the report said “the increasingly extremist Democratic Party practically invites electoral doom in 2020.”
