President Obama can thank the Hispanic Vote community for contributing to his reelection. Seventy three percent (73%) of Latinos voted for Obama; Romney’s share was only 27%. Romney’s brazen admonition to Spanish immigrants that he would worsen their lives in the U.S. to encourage them to self deport was not forgotten. The President promised to reform immigration law. This will be eagerly awaited.
Exit polls taken after people voted, indicated two thirds of voters said that undocumented workers should have a chance to apply for legal status. And many States are now saying that they will provide in-state college tuition for undocumented students.
Hispanic Vote Growth
The Republican Party is now reconsidering its positions respecting Latino voters. The increased disaffection of Latinos with the Republican Party resulted in the loss of eleven out of 12 swing states and thereby the defeat of Romney for the Presidency. Some conservatives like Marco Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, warned Romney that he had to do more for the Latino community. But to win the nomination Romney had to convince the Republican right wing that he was solidly in their camp. This brought Romney to say he would make it miserable for Latino immigrants here so they would choose self-deportation.
While the proportion of white male voters has declined, the Latinos share of the Hispanic vote has surged. The Republicans are now saying that they misunderstood what was happening in the country and now the Republicans have admitted that they need to strive to include more Latinos into their base or else they will become permanently a minority party. Constant talk about protecting the borders isn’t helping them. They need to pay attention immediately in dealing with legitimating the 12 million undocumented here.
Hispanic Vote Surge
President Obama in the 2012 election won an even larger share of the Hispanic vote than he did in the election of 2008. Ten percent of the nationwide electorate is now Hispanic. If the Republicans don’t pay attention to these statistics, they will perish. Romney first opposed the Dream Act and then after Barack Obama by executive order granted it, and when it became apparent it was successful, Romney supported it. The Spanish community felt after that they could not trust Romney. The Spanish community values church and family orientation and hard work. They want a share of the good life too and are sensitive to prejudice against persons with darker skins. They dislike favoritism of rich over poor. They want their children to be educated and have a promising future. Unless the Republican Party turns around to become helpful and cooperative in programs to allow these values to succeed, the Republican Party will shrink and die.
