Quite so — they just need enough . And they can get enough.
Part of what happens is that many Latinos are already predisposed to distrust mainstream media (MSM), so instead they rely on social nets and local media that speaks their language both literally AND socioculturally,which places them in the same vulnerable spot as the “white working class” or “rural” cohorts. They will respond to “I’ll protect your oilfield job and bring back cheap eggs” or, especially, to “we’ll make sure your boy stays your boy and marries a good girl in church and gives you grandkids”.
That cite is unsure-Some South Texas counties, which have a higher Hispanic/Latino population, flipped from blue in 2016 to red in 2020. But experts say more data is needed… “On the one hand, it’s a surprise Trump did better in South Texas than I might have expected,” said Raul Madrid, a professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in Latin American politics among other things.
“On the other hand, the counties that flipped are basically very rural counties. They are heavily Latino. But remember, in general in Texas, even though Latinos are 40% of the population, it’s typically only around 20% of the electorate,” Madrid continued. “Moreover, in Texas, the Anglo population in rural areas votes very heavily Republican. We’re talking upwards of 80%. And so, so, you need to take that into consideration when you’re examining these counties.”
OTOH I can see that being a specific no-go item for them as it is has been in some contexts for this Board and the putz in question just was not creative enough to find other degrading language to use on short notice.
And add me to the list of those who had never heard of him before now.
The Texas Tribune article @DSeid cites notes that exit polls showed Clinton winning Texas Latinos by 27 points in 2016, dropping to a 17-point margin for Biden in 2020. And it’s inarguable that across the 28 Texas counties on or near the border – which are overwhelmingly Latino – Biden won by 17 percentage points compared to Clinton’s 33 points. Texas Democrats certainly don’t think this is some sort of data mirage – they have been absolutely freaking out over the trend not only in South Texas but among Hispanic voters across the state.
So no, I don’t think that indiscriminate MAGA talk about illegals will make his Latino support “vanish.” I think the impact of the MSG foofaraw will be marginal, but hopefully the right kind of marginal – i.e. it moves the needle just enough with a specific population (Puerto Ricans) in a specific state (Pennsylvania) to solidify a Harris EC victory.
Of course not, there’s not enough time for that or almost anything else to cause a big swing. And right wing voters never seem to realzie the leopards will eat their faces.
Of course after the election if he wins they’ll likely change their minds when they are forced across the border or killed. But it won’t matter then.
The idea that Hispanic voters, even limited to a single state, are some kind of monolithic bloc largely voting in lockstep has never been true.
There’s more than a hint of racism to even think that would. Why would Cubans in Florida care about Mexicans in Texas or Puerto Ricans in New York? Why think they, like immigrant populations elsewhere, would also not see demographic differences between themselves and their children or grandchildren.
Just because they’re all “Latino”? Just because people like to apply a label to a giant, disparate group of people from different backgrounds based largely on skin color and a common root language does not mean they themselves feel any shared “Latino” heritage. No more than immigrants from India (or those descended from) feel some kind of shared “Asian-American” heritage with their counterparts from China.
No, he insulted Puerto Ricans. Other than a shared identity as a minority population (which they would also share with Chinese or South Asian or African immigrants or their descendants), are there any strong reasons other people we choose to lump into the “Latino” categorization should feel any special resonance to the insult? Any ones not based on a race categorization they themselves do not necessarily ascribe to?
I was talking to a friend of mine from Mexico, a DREAMer, about the Latino vote way back around 2018. I mentioned another friend of mine, also Latino, who was all in for Trump, and the guy I was talking to just asked in a flat voice, “Is he Puerto Rican?” When I answered in the affirmative he just nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Asian-American” as a label is more problematic. It covers a group of people who ethnically represent 75% of the population of the planet. Even if you limit to more regional ethnicities, perhaps their neighbors may lump Korean immigrants together with Chinese, they themselves would say “But we’re Korean, what does anything about China have to do with us?”
I imagine most Americans (now) would be careful about lumping Ukrainians together with Russians but there’s more than a little racial component there. Tiny hint: we don’t treat “European” people as a group with more than a nominal shared heritage like we do “Hispanic” or “Asian-American” or “African” or “Middle Eastern” peoples.
And if posters here are surprised that these insults aren’t getting more traction with broader groups of voters, they should not be. You would think that’s Election Campaigning 101 - don’t force your own racial preconceptions on the voters, listen to them and understand theirs.
Agreeing with your point, I recall my step-mom, who was from Hong Kong, and was Chinese.
She did not like Japanese people (lingering resentment over treatment during world war 2) and was downright bigoted against people from the Philippines.
So, yeah, lumping an entire region together is quite problematic.
He did insult Latinos, quoted by @DrDeth in the same post that you quoted:
"It’s wild. And these Latinos, they love making babies, too, just know that. They do, they do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country…