Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Jay-Z on the U.S. Senate Floor

For almost 13 hours U.S. Senator Rand Paul took over the Senate floor to filibuster President Obama’s nominee for CIA director, John Brennan, and challenge the administration’s drone-strike policy. From the inception of the filibuster at 11:47 am the junior Republican Senator from Kentucky became the focus of the conservative blogosphere and twitter. Eventually various colleagues joined in on the filibuster including Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. John Thune, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Ron Johnson, Sen. Tim Scott, Sen. Jeff Flake among others.

Filibusters are famous not only for their length but what Senators do/say to extend time. Sen. Rand Paul read from Alice and Wonderland. Senator Cruz read tweets in support of Rand Paul, quoted Shakespeare and lines from the movie Patton.  In contrast, the Miami born Senator Marco Rubio quoted from Jay-Z and Wiz Khalifa and referenced The Godfather.

Quoting Jay-Z, Sen. Rubio made a very important point. Rubio wondered out loud if his Democratic colleagues would have joined the filibuster  if it was Republican President George W. Bush in the White House and implementing these same drone-strike polices, instead of President Obama.

There are many who don’t agree with Senator Rand Paul, saying what he did was unnecessary. Yet, one of the points he did make was a need for transparency in government. A promise made and broken by this administration.

See more outstanding moments from the Washington Post and from National Review.

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A Lively Google+ Face the Nation Hangout on Hispanic voters

Recently, I was invited by CBS to be part of a Google Hang out to talk about the growing Hispanic vote. The two part interview was a lively discussion with a diverse set of characters working in and out of the world of politics.

The hangout was hosted by CBS News’ John Dickerson. He tried to organize our lively group which included Gabriela Domenzain of the Obama Campaign; Executive Director of the Hispanic Leadership Network Jennifer Sevilla Korn; Founder of LatinoRebels.com, Julio Ricardo Varela; Esai Morales, Actor and Co-Founder of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts; America’s Voice Executive Director Frank Sharry and myself.

Watch the video below for see the conversation. A segment of the Google+ Hangout will be shown on CBS News Sunday morning show, Face the Nation.

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Will Latinos Matter in New Hampshire, the First Primary of 2012?

All eyes are on New Hampshire, the first in the nation Presidential Primary for the 2012 election. New Hampshire’s Latino voting population is small – only 1.9% of Granite State residents are eligible Hispanic voters.

Of the 37,000 Hispanics that call New Hampshire home, about half, 19,000 are eligible to vote. Here is the state breakdown: 73% Native-born, 37% Foreign-born, 35% Younger than 18 according the Pew Hispanic Center.

The GOP candidates are focused on engaging all potential voters, including Latinos. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, held an event on Sunday at Don Quijote’s Mexican Restaurant in Manchester aimed at engaging Hispanic voters. He brought along his daughter, who is fluent in Spanish, to the event according to Fox News Latino. 

Polls show that Hispanic are disappointed with President Barack Obama and his economic policies. Latino unemployment is at 11%, two points higher than the national average. Like many Americans, Hispanics are disillusioned with Obama’s failed promises and looking for an alternative in 2012. The RNC released a new video reminding New Hampshire voters of the promises the President made in the Granite state during his 2008 primary.

 

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POLL: Latinos Undecided and Unenthusiastic about 2012 Elections

A new poll by Latino Decisions shows that about half of Latino voters are still undecided on who to vote for President and are not excited about the upcoming 2012 election. The data is bad news for President Obama who needs a super majority of Latino support, about 75%, to secure a second term in the White House.

The new poll examined a variety of topics including likely voter turnout and important policy issue facing Latinos, economy and jobs still remain at the top of that list. Latino Decisions poll also asked about the role of religion in Latino political attitudes, the impact of Marco Rubio on a presidential ticket and the efforts of both political parties in engaging Hispanic voters.

While the ever changing Republican primary has generated a lot of media attention, it has done little to excite the average Hispanic voter about the Presidential election. Only 44% of Latino voters said they are very enthusiastic about participating in next year’s U.S. presidential election, compared with 47% in October and 50% in August.

When examining Latino attitudes towards the GOP and the Republican Party it is clear that there is much work to be done. About 20% of Latino respondents said they are certain or are considering voting for a Republican candidate. Half of Latinos feel the Republican Party  is doing a poor job in connecting with Hispanics. This can be turned into an opportunities for Republican candidates to connect and motivate Hispanic voters who aren’t currently engaged in the political debate. A recent Univision poll found that a majority of Latino voters still were not familiar with the Republican presidential field.

A rare topic that was examined by the Latino Decisions poll was religion and politics from the perspective of Latino voters. It found that while Latinos are somewhat more religious as compared to non-Latinos, their religious beliefs are far less relevant to their political attitudes. 53% of respondents said that religion had no impact on their vote and about 55% of Latinos don’t care about a candidate’s religion. When asked about Mormonism,  less than 1/3 of Latinos know that Mormonism is a form of Christianity – a question that was clearly aimed at understanding Latino attitudes towards Republican Mitt Romney.

Read the full report and see the slide deck on the poll at Latino Decisions: “Latinos not very enthusiastic about the 2012 election“

“…The impreMedia/Latino Decisions poll began measuring the election preferences of Latino voters in February of this year. It has been measuring their enthusiasm for voting in next year’s presidential election and their potential support for President Obama and a Republican rival. In six separate polls, Latino voters’ tendency to identify with the Democrats and President Obama’s approval rating among the majority of Latinos—except for Latino Republicans—have fluctuated somewhat, but have generally remained above 60%. Nevertheless, the voting intentions and enthusiasm of Latinos, which are crucial for Barack Obama’s re-election in states such as Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and even Arizona, which is now said to be up for grabs, are not as positive for the president as could be expected. “On the Democratic side, there’s no competition or much discussion. In 2008, as we remember, there was a lot of enthusiasm around the race, particularly between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama,” said Barreto….”

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Winning the Latino Vote: Tone Vs. Substance

When talking to Latino voters, what is more important: the tone of the debate or the substance? That is the constant question asked by candidates, perplexed on how to effectively connect with the growing Hispanic electorate, scheduled to reach 12.2 million voters in 2012.  Even though the economy, jobs and education continue to be top issues for Latino voters, immigration has dominated the conversation.

Campaign & Elections Magazine has a new post by Chris Palko titled “Winning the Hispanic vote in 2012.” He states that recent numbers indicate that tone trumps substance on immigration. He also suggests some other topics candidates should focus on, including government spending, education and national security.

“…The media’s focus influences strategists from both political parties who routinely view the key to winning Hispanic voters as championing some form of immigration reform. But is immigration really the main issue of concern for Hispanics? Not by a long shot. The No.1 issue that Hispanic voters care about is education…

…Republicans do have an image problem among most Hispanic voters, but it is not a crushing deficit and there is room for improvement. Democrats, meanwhile, are more trusted overall, although they are far from beloved. In many respects, the immigration issue is a proxy for “respecting the Hispanic community.” If there are image problems for Republicans among Hispanics, it has more to do with a perceived lack of respect than the details of an immigration policy. Moreover, Republican politicians could make inroads with Hispanic voters if they indicate that they respect the community, and refrain from demonizing immigrants…” READ MORE

The reason tone is so important in efforts to connect with Hispanics is easy, a Latino will not consider a candidate if he/she feels the tone of that person is harsh or anti-Latino. A candidate can be offering all the answers in the world, be full of great substance, but if a Latino feels the candidate hates Latinos, the candidates is not going to get that vote.

As the 2012 election inches closer, Republican candidates must ensure they are connecting and engaging Hispanic voters.  Recently, the Obama campaign announced their National Latino Vote Director. On the Republican side, only Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman have announced official efforts to court Latino voters.

A recent Univision poll has Obama ahead of GOP Presidential candidates. Yet, it also showed that Republican candidates have made little effort to connect with Hispanic voters, and have low name identification.

“At the moment, Latinos are not very familiar with the slate of Republican candidates. Over half – 53 percent – have never no opinion of or have never heard of Cain, for instance…

All four of the following candidates – Romney, Perry, Cain and Gingrich – have net negative favorability ratings among Latinos. And Romney, whom political insiders view as the favorite for the GOP nomination, is unknown to many Latinos: 46 percent say they have no opinion or have never heard of him.

Only 13 percent of Latinos say the GOP has done a good job reaching out to them, while 42 percent say Republicans don’t care too much about them and 30 percent believe they are being openly hostile. By comparison, 45 percent of Latinos believe that Democrats have done a good job of reaching out them, while 32 percent say they are apathetic. Only eight percent say they are openly hostile.”

Republicans have a major opportunity this election cycle to connect with Latino voters, given the growing disenchantment with Obama among Hispanics and the general electorate. In order for the GOP to win the White House, they need Latinos, about 40% of the support of the Hispanic community to win. Efforts to engage Hispanic must start now for the Republican Party to have a real chance to win in November 2012.

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California Hispanics Criticize Obama Failures at White House Latino Summit

Over the weekend Hispanics in Southern California scolded President Barack Obama and the White House for their failure to fix the economy. Obama administration staff have traveled the country hosting “White House Hispanic Community Action Summits” in a last-ditch effort to repair President Obama’s tarnished image among Latinos before the 2012 election.

White House officials were expecting to give speeches and “educate” Latinos on the “positive” impacts Obama’s policies have had on the Hispanic community. Yet, many Hispanics in attendance at the summit were not in the mood to be lectured. They wanted to be heard and wanted answers to their problems. The harsh reality for most Latino families is that life has gotten harder since Obama took the White House.

Hispanics are facing a higher than average unemployment rate, have been hit hardest by the recession and are in the group hit the hardest by poverty. Hispanic children have the highest rate of poverty in the nation.

The White House Latino event was held at the University of California Riverside in the Inland Empire, where Latinos compose over 40% of the area’s population. The Los Angeles Times reported on the summit:

“The economic wounds from the recession remain raw in a region where fortunes plummeted with the crash of the housing market and construction industry. Once a haven for Latino immigrants looking for housing construction jobs, unemployment now hovers around 14% in San Bernardino County and 13% in Riverside County.

“This just can’t be an exercise in politics. It can’t be, a region gets checked off and we move on,” said Paul Granillo, president of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, a coalition of the region’s businesses, government and nonprofit groups. “The challenges that face us are severe.”…

Nationwide, the Latino unemployment rate is just over 13%, compared with the national average of about 9%. Nearly a quarter of the 51 million Latinos in the U.S. live in poverty, compared with 15% for the nation as a whole.

San Bernardino, a city where Latinos account for 6 of every 10 residents, has the second-highest poverty rate among the nation’s major cities. A U.S. Census report released in September showed that 34.7% of city residents live below the poverty line.”

During the event the White House tried to point to the successful passage of health care reform as a highlight of the administration. Though some Hispanic activists do not see the legislation as a victory.

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President Obama: Three Years Later

In 2008 Barack Obama swept into office with people hoping for “change.” Three years later, with the economy failing and high unemployment, many Americans are thinking, this isn’t the change we wanted…. With the 2012 elections approaching, many people are asking the famous question first posed by Ronald Reagan “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

In a recent interview with George Stephanopoulos, President Obama honestly answered the question saying that Americans “are not better off than they were four years ago.”   Watch this new video from the RNC.

H/T to Byron Koay and Josh Sharp.

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GOP Hopes to Win Latino Votes in Colorado

President Obama’s failed policies have provided Republicans in Colorado a unique opportunity to attract Latinos to the GOP.

Hispanics have become disenchanted due to Obama’s broken promises on immigration reform. Life under an Obama administration has become harder. Latinos in Colorado are dealing with 13.2 percent unemployment, well above the state average of 8.7 percent. In addition, a record number of Latino children are living in poverty, and Hispanic have been hit the hardest by the recession.

About 20% of Colorado’s population is Hispanic, and represent about 13% of the state’s eligible voters . In 2008, Obama won three out of five Colorado Hispanic voters, with over 87 percent of registered Latino voters turning out on Election Day. Yet, today many of those same Latinos don’t think Obama should be re-elected. The latest Gallup poll has President Obama’s approval rating among Hispanics down to 48%, the lowest of his presidency.

Seeing an opportunity, Republicans are mobilizing their grassroots efforts and engaging Latino voters on the issues. Many see Hispanics as a natural constituency in the GOP. “We are pro-legal immigration, pro-family, pro-entrepreneurial and pro-free-market principles,” said Madeline Rohan, Chairman of the Colorado Hispanic Republicans.

Read more at The Denver Post: “Colorado GOP outreach to Latino voters bets on voters’ disenchantment “

“…Republicans are taking a page out of the Democratic playbook and, for the first time, aggressively courting Latino voters as they organize for what will be a knock-down fight for Colorado’s nine electoral votes in November 2012.

“I recognize the political realities of the changing demographics of the state,” said Ryan Call, Colorado’s GOP state chairman, who has appointed several Latinos to his executive committee. “Reaching out to our Hispanic neighbors is absolutely critical if we hope to be successful.”

Newly formed conservative Latino groups are huddling over messages on the economy, education and immigration. National super-PACs are dumping money into Colorado’s Spanish-language radio and television stations.

And GOP operatives here are brandishing spreadsheets of dismal Latino unemployment rates by state, pointing out that, at least on paper, people are worse off now than they were four years ago…”

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Poll: Top Issues for Latinos – Out of Control Government Speinding

Straight from Politico’s Playbook, two new polls show major problems for Democrats and candidate Obama. Biggest take away from the data 1) Republicans have a MAJOR opportunity with Hispanics voters. 2) Confirms  that Latino voters are open to a conservative messages and want to reduce government spending.  3) Latinos want real reform to fix the broken immigration system, not just empty promises…  I’ll have my analysis, and some historical content later. For now, here is the data:

POLITICO: “ FIRST LOOK — SOBERING FINDINGS FOR DEMS IN 2 PRIVATE POLLS:”

1) THIS CYCLE’S BIGGEST SURVEY OF LATINO VOTERS: Campaigns and party committees are getting confidential briefings on the findings of a bipartisan poll for Univision of 1,500 likely Latino voters, conducted by Mark Mellman of The Mellman Group (a Democratic firm) and Dave Sackett of The Tarrance Group (Republican). About one-third of the interviews were conducted in Spanish, and the poll oversampled in CA, TX, FL, NV, NM and AZ. Playbook was provided an exclusive look at the findings:

–The research finds A SUBSTANTIAL HISPANIC SWING VOTE. Dissatisfaction with the country’s direction creates an opening for Republicans with Hispanics, and PERRY’S STANDING IN TEXAS REVEALS HOW WELL THE GOP CAN DO WITH LATINOS. 57% of those polled consider themselves Democrats, 19% Republican and 15% independent. But 43% call themselves conservative, 37% liberal and 20% moderate. Even 32% of Democrats call themselves conservatives!

–Get this: For SWING Latino voters, the top concern was “the federal gov’t in DC is wasting too much of our tax money,” just ahead of education, Medicare, deficit, “family values are in decline” and jobs. Their top issues mirror the top issues of other swing voters: “illegal immigration is out of control” was cited by 14%, compared with 17% for “politicians aren’t serious about real immigration reform” (participants could give multiple answers).

–The point to the campaigns is that Spanish-language ads can be run on the candidates’ primary message – it doesn’t have to be a separate Hispanic track. 30% of Latino swing voters watch mostly Spanish-language TV, and even English speakers consider candidates’ Spanish ads as “a sign that they respect the community.”

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Obama’s Hispanic Support Hits New Low

The Hill’s Ballot Box blog reports on President Obama’s bumpy road to re-election. Latinos maybe his biggest road block. For the first time, Hispanic support for Obama has slippedbelow 50 percent.

“President Obama’s job approval rating from Hispanics has slipped below 50 percent for the first time, according to Gallup’s latest poll, an ominous sign for the president as he heads into campaign season.

Just 48 percent of Hispanics approve of the job Obama has done, while 37 percent disapprove. This is down from a 60 percent approval rating as recently as January, an erosion that came later than his slipping numbers with Anglo voters. This trend should worry Obama: Hispanics are the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the country, and there are high numbers of Hispanic voters in swing states including New Mexico, Florida, Colorado, Nevada and even Virginia….

Read more here

The drop in support is due in large part to the dismal economy. Latinos have been disproportionately impacted by the recession and are facing a higher than average unemployment rate of 11.3 percent.

President Obama has done himself no favors with Latinos, as he has backtracked on his promise to tackle immigration reform. Now three years into his Presidency, the Obama administration starting paying attention to Latinos and has launched some new (politically motivated) initiatives to gain Hispanic support.

This week the White House hosted a Hispanic Summit in Orlando, billed as the administration’s first outside the beltway Hispanic summit. It was clearly aimed at wooing swing state voters in Florida (Seems like all the White House “non-political” events are in battleground states?). The Obama team has focused intently on the central Florida Latino vote and it’s large Puerto Rican community.

According to the Orlando Sentinel Florida’s Hispanic voters are expected to top 1.6 million in 2012, a 34 percent increase in four years.

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