# Why did Mitt Romney fail with Hispanics **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 1, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659 "2012-12-01T07:59:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/1 "2012-12-01T07:59:39Z")
Romney was the first Mexican to be a major presidential candidate and yet he got less than a third of the Hispanic vote. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/2 "2012-12-01T08:19:56Z")
1. He’s a Republican, and Republicans in general aren’t very popular in the Hispanic community right now. 2. He’s not a Mexican in any meaningful sense. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/3 "2012-12-01T09:31:31Z")
Donal Trump and President Obama don’t have much in common, but they both agree that Romney’s [self](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/84238.html) [deportation](http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/17/news/la-pn-obama-romney-self-deportation-20121016) didn’t go over well with Hispanics. Personally, I think it might have had something to do with the [dayglo dego](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09/20/mitt-romney-mexico-fake-tan-univision-_n_1900183.html) look 🆒:o ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/4 "2012-12-01T10:15:13Z")
Mitt Romney is a Mexican in the sense that Barack Obama is a Kenyan. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/5 "2012-12-01T10:24:04Z")
Most of the dislike Hispanics and other minorities and women have towards the Republicans has nothing to do with them wanting “one of their own” elected; it has to do with the hostility the Republicans have long demonstrated towards them. Palin didn’t win over women either. Or to hypothetically turn it around; a white guy running as a member of the “We Hate White Guys Party” wouldn’t get many white men to vote for him either. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/6 "2012-12-01T10:33:18Z")
Even if Mitt Romney is Mexican, that doesn’t make him _Hispanic_. His “Mexican” father was born in a town occupied by English-speaking Americans from Utah. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/7 "2012-12-01T14:01:58Z")
Because any meaningful outreach to Hispanics would have lost him the vote of the “DER TERK ARR JERBS!!” block. The latter are a much more reliable constituency. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/8 "2012-12-01T14:17:08Z")
He has no cultural ties to Mexico. His ancestors fled to Mexico to be free to practice polygamy. In the primary season, it was a race of who could declare the most disgust for the “illegals”. Declaring that he was going to make things so miserable here for Mexican immigrants that they would self-deport isn’t the way to get Hispanic votes. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/9 "2012-12-01T14:58:37Z")
So how could his father have run for President back in the '60s if he was born in Mexico? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/10 "2012-12-01T15:14:13Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > So how could his father have run for President back in the '60s if he was born in Mexico? Being born outside the US doesn’t mean you’re not an American citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/11 "2012-12-01T15:16:01Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > So how could his father have run for President back in the '60s if he was born in Mexico? Looks like George’s parents were both American-born and essentially “living abroad” in Mexico for a while, then fled back to the US when the Mexican Revolution broke out. So even though he was born outside the US proper, he’s still an American since his parents were Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/12 "2012-12-01T15:16:46Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Romney was the first Mexican to be a major presidential candidate… No he most certainly was not. The term Mexican indicates someone who is a citizen of Mexico, just like a Canadian is a citizen of Canada or an American is a citizen of the USA. Some of his ancestors lived for some years in Mexico but he never did. Mexican is not a synonym for Hispanic. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/13 "2012-12-01T16:42:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Being born outside the US doesn’t mean you’re not an American citizen. John McCain is the most recent example of a presidential candidate who was not born in the US. Curiously, that has not bothered the Birthers who have issues with Barack Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/14 "2012-12-01T18:04:15Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > John McCain is the most recent example of a presidential candidate who was not born in the US. Curiously, that has not bothered the Birthers who have issues with Barack Obama. The argument for McCain not being qualified to be President is actually pretty decent. It doesn’t require any bizarre conspiracy theories or rewriting the story of his birth, it just needs one to interpret the law in a debatable, but reasonable way. Which isn’t to say I think McCain should’ve been disqualified from running. The argument for him being qualified is also pretty straightforward, and given two readings of the law which are both reasonable, it makes sense to just choose the one that maximizes the people that can run. Still, I think of all the men who’ve received a major party nomination, the argument against McCain being constituionally disqualified is probably the strongest. So its kind of amusing that the people stringing incredibly implausible arguments against Obama’s qualifications were backing a man whose own qualifications were open to more reasonable criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/15 "2012-12-01T19:01:09Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Personally, I think it might have had something to do with the [dayglo dego](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09/20/mitt-romney-mexico-fake-tan-univision-_n_1900183.html) look 🆒:o Careful buddy, we Italians don’t want him either. Also (not that I particularly care), dago is an ethnic slur. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/16 "2012-12-01T20:09:42Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Careful buddy, we Italians don’t want him either. Also (not that I particularly care), dago is an ethnic slur. Yes, but it is an ethnic slur against Hispanics (Diego –\> dago) not Italians. If you want to slur Italians, they are wops. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/17 "2012-12-01T20:16:47Z")
It originated as a term for Spaniards, but it expanded to be a slur against people of Mediterranean origin, including Italians and Portuguese, as a cursory reading of Christie and Sayers shows. See: [Dago - Wikipedia](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dago) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/18 "2012-12-01T20:32:10Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Yes, but it is an ethnic slur against Hispanics (Diego –\> dago) not Italians. If you want to slur Italians, they are wops. Trust me, dago is an Italian slur. If Jersey Shore didn’t convince, stop by my house for Christmas dinner. The word dago (as in “We’re such dagos!”) will be uttered at least once. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/19 "2012-12-01T21:36:25Z")
Mitt Romney is less a Mexican than John McCain is a Panamanian (and McCain is not a Panamanian), and yes, he’s less Mexican than Obama is Kenyan. There’s no reason to expect this to have helped him with Hispanic voters, and in fact on that “47%” video Romney himself bemoaned this fact. The Republican Party is not much liked by Hispanic voters right now. It’s not just immigration - I think the problem is that on a national level (there are individual exceptions) Republicans only view Hispanics through a prism of illegal immigration: witness the Arizona papers law. That’s probably somewhat true of the Democrats, but I don’t think it’s true to the same extent. There just isn’t a lot of outreach there and they’re not displaying much interest. Romney certainly didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659/20 "2012-12-01T23:18:44Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Romney was the first Mexican… Can you 'splain to us how you come to the conclusion that Romney is Mexican? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mitt-romney-fail-with-hispanics/642659.md?page=2)