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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The Ad Wars Continue: RNC Up With New Spanish-Language Ad (UPDATED)

Today’s Politco’s “Morning Score” reports on a new round of ads by the Republican National Committee (RNC). This fourth round of ads in the RNC’s “Change Direction” campaign features a 30-second spot depicting a little girl watching the news at the end of Obama’s second term in 2017. The ad continues the RNC’s focus on the failing economy saying: “Eight years ago we were promised hope… Today many believe their American dream has been lost.”

The spot is airing in key battle ground (toss-up) states Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Virginia, along with a Spanish-language radio buy in Florida focused on Hispanic voters.

During a conference call with Florida reporters, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus discussed the importance of the Hispanic vote and Florida voters. The Miami Herald reports:

“Polls show that Hispanic voters are leaving the Democratic Party “in droves,” and the DNC is afraid, said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus…”It’s clear that this president’s failed economic policies have Hispanic voters looking for a change of direction,” he said. “It’s obvious that this president, while in love with his own voice, is not in love with following through oh his promises. No matter your background, that truth is known across the country.”

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DNC Reacts to GOP Spanish-Language Ads, Buys Air Time

This morning the DNC went up with a large Spanish-language ad buy defending President Barack Obama’s policies to the Latino community. It is a direct response to the Crossroads GPS Spanish-language ad buy now playing in various Hispanic populous states across the country.

The Daily Grito has a translation of the Spanish ad here.

The RNC and Crossroads have been aggressively working to communicate with the Latino community this cycle. Both groups have released ads in Spanish, highlighting the bad economy and President Obama’s broken promises. READ MORE

The DNC ad will air on broadcast television in Denver; Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, Fla.; Albuquerque, N.M.;  Las Vegas and Reno, Nev.; and Washington, D.C. — cities also targeted by the Spanish-language American Crossroads spot, which started airing in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. The regions targeted are critical swing states with growing Hispanic populations.

In an interview with Florida’s Sunshine State News, RNC’s Victoria Martinez responds to the DNC new ad buy.

 “This ad is a desperate attempt by Democrats to save face in light of the GOP’s successful messaging within the Hispanic community. Whether it is the economy, the debt debate, or the Hispanic community, the White House is consistently playing defense because of the failed policies and miscues from President Obama. More scare tactics and political theatrics from a party and President who know all too well that they have failed to deliver on their campaign promise of putting Americans back to work. Voters, especially Hispanic voters, know that they cannot afford four more years of President Obama,” said RNC spokesperson Victoria Martinez.

Martinez also pointed out that the unemployment rate for Hispanics has jumped from 9.9 percent to 11.6 percent since Obama took office.

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Ed Gillespie on Immigration

This week Ed Gillespie, Chairman of the Republican State Leadership Committee unveiled a plan to recruit over 100 Hispanic candidates through a new initiative called the “Future Majority Project.” READ MORE:

I recently saw some notes from a speech he gave in Virginia where Gillespie, former Chairman of the RNC, discusses his views on the immigration debate.

From the Ripon Society.

“In his remarks, Gillespie also pointed to another issue where Republicans needed to do a better job of connecting policy to people’s lives – immigration.

“We favor welcoming legal immigrants into this country and believe it’s a good thing,” he said. “But sometimes that policy gets lost because we’re so busy talking about keeping illegal immigrants out.

“The fact is, people who come to this country legally contribute to our society, contribute to our economy, and contribute to our culture. We have not only a right, but an obligation to secure our borders. But we also have to welcome people into our country and into our party, I would argue, as a Republican. I say that not based on any theory. I know this to be a fact.

“My father was an Irish immigrant. He came here from Ireland at the age of 9, was processed through Ellis Island, grew up in North Philadelphia in some pretty tough neighborhoods, worked as a janitor. He fought for his adopted country in World War II, won two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, a Silver Star, was a small business owner. He and my mother had a mom-and- pop grocery store, and he lived every Irishman’s dream — he bought his own bar. He’s a great American. We need to send a signal that we recognize and welcome these folks.”

Gillespie, who currently heads up Resurgent Republic, a policy research group that closely tracks independent voters, stated that sending this kind of signal on immigration is not just the right thing to do, but is smart politically, as well.”

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Two National GOP Groups Launch Spanish Ads Targeting Latino Vote

Come this summer Latinos will be getting a lot more conservative messages in Spanish and English.

Two national Republican groups – the RNC and American Crossroads – have launched a summertime Spanish-language advertising blitz to court Hispanic voters in key presidential battleground states.

ABC Reports – “RNC, American Crossroads Target Hispanic Voters in Battleground States” :

“The Republican National Committee and independent pro-Republican group American Crossroads are simultaneously airing ads in New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, slamming President Obama on the economy.

The RNC ad, which hits the president on unemployment, taxes, federal debt and deficit, will air on Hispanic radio in the three states, according to a committee statement. It’s expected to run concurrently with a small English-language TV buy in select media markets highlighting a similar message.

American Crossroads, a group with ties to GOP strategist Karl Rove, says it will spend more than $158,000 this week to air a Spanish-language TV ad in the same states, as well as Florida, Texas, and Washington, D.C. The ad is part of a $20 million campaign, blasting Obama on the deficit and debt.”

The ads attack President Obama on his biggest vulnerability with Latino voters- the economy. As a post in the Latino Blog, Daily Grito states: ”In the absence of a huge advantage on immigration, Obama’s real vulnerability among Latino voters, as with all Americans, is on economic issues.”

In conjunction with the Spanish radio ad, the RNC launched a television ad in English hitting Obama on his failed economic policies. From a press release from the RNC:

“The Republican National Committee (RNC) released its third television ad today as part of a month-long “Change Direction” economic messaging campaign highlighting President Obama’s failed economic leadership.  The RNC will go on offense in the Southwestern states of New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada with a broadcast television buy. Acknowledging the region’s Hispanic population and 11.6 percent unemployment among Hispanics nationally, the ad will be supplemented with a Hispanic radio spot also hitting on the president’s economy.

Even David Axelrod admits the president must win the Southwest, a region Obama won in 2008 but George W. Bush won in 2004, to win reelection. President Obama will be playing defense in the Southwest and across the country because his failed economic policies, and now his insistence on raising taxes, are making the economy worse for job creators and Americans looking for jobs.

Watch the RNC English television ad here http://bit.ly/p1qK8u. The radio ad in Spanish can be heard here http://bit.ly/oFvEII.

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Republican Group Unveils Hispanic Recruitment Plan

Republicans finally unveiled a plan to recruit more Latinos and minorities into the GOP, it’s called the “Future Majority Project.”  An initiative of the Republican State Leadership Committee, and its’ Chairman, Ed Gillespie, the Future Majority Project has three goals, with the first priority to recruit over 100 Hispanics candidates.

From Politico: “RSLC unveils Latino recruitment plan”

“The Future Majority Project — which also aims to recruit women and younger voters to the GOP — is a response to the country’s changing demographics, and seeks to build Republican support among minority groups at the state level, RSLC chair Ed Gillespie said Monday. The new project will work to recruit, train and support Hispanic candidates for legislative seats and attorney general and secretary of state posts across the U.S.

The FMP has three major objectives: recruit at least 100 new Hispanic legislative candidates across the country, increase the number of female Republican legislative candidates and partner with the College Republican National Committee for a national youth training and mobilization program.

Gillespie said the FMP’s top goal is connecting with Hispanic voters.

“If we don’t adapt now to changes that are taking place in the country, we will face a very different electorate in a couple cycles,” Gillespie said during a conference call with reporters.

I have always been a fan of Gillespie, who once served as chairman of the Republican National Committee. He has been a long time advocate for additional efforts to connect with Latinos.While this project isn’t a complete solution/plan in hopes of capturing the Latino vote, it’s a strong step in the right direction.

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GOP Group Ramps Up Efforts to Attract Latino Voters

The Hispanic Leadership Network, a nonprofit offshoot of the American Action Forum and the American Action Network, one of the GOP’s most active and powerful outside-money groups, is ramping up efforts to connect with Latino voters.

They recently hired Jennifer Korn as Executive Director of the Hispanic Leadership Network. Korn, a California native, is a political strategist, George W. Bush White House alum, and was instrumental in Bush’s 2004 re-election victory and wooing Hispanic voters.

Korn’s selection signals an important move in the right direction for the GOP in connecting with Hispanic voters, many who live in important swing states. Outside groups, like the American Action Network, will play a pivotal role in the 2012 campaign, likely buying up air time and investing in boots on the ground operations. Efforts to connect with Latinos by these groups will be critical for GOP electoral victory, especially when the RNC has been slow to implement a comprehensive Latino political strategy (though they have made some important hires to their communications staff). Republican Presidential campaigns have yet to show a high level of commitment towards engaging with Latino voters, as most currently have “no outreach focusing specifically on Hispanics” as reported by USA Today.

In January 2011 the Hispanic Leadership Network hosted a large gathering of conservative Latinos in Miami, Fl. Together with event Co-Chairs, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, over 600 Hispanic leaders attended the inaugural event. The two-day program was part of a long-term effort to attract Latinos to the conservative movement envisioned by American Action Network’s leadership, which includes Senator Norm Coleman and Fred Malek.

• Read my comments and photos from the January event here and here.

The American Action Network has also taken major steps to strengthen its staff in preparation of the 2012 election. 

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The Hill: Hispanic vote could hold key to GOP Senate majority

With more data coming out of the Census, showing in hard numbers the growth and potential power of Latino voters, politicos are paying attention.

Today, The Hill wrote a piece on the significance of the Hispanic vote. Among the important points being made by fellow Latino Republicans was to pay attention to tone, focus on the issues and rethink the old ways of “outreach.” For too long the Party has compartmentalized it’s activists and surrogates, and has not rethought methods on how to effectively connect with Hispanic voters.

Read the piece here:

Hispanic vote in critical 2012 states could hold key to GOP Senate majority
Sean J. Miller, The Hill

Hispanic populations have grown dramatically in several states Republicans see as crucial to their party’s efforts to retake the Senate, making some GOP strategists worry that a heated immigration reform debate could nix those efforts.

New census data show minority communities booming in states such as Montana, Nebraska and Missouri, which saw their Hispanic populations leap by 58, 77 and 79 percent, respectively, in the last ten years.

It isn’t lost on GOP strategists that the reelection campaigns for those states’ Democratic senators — Jon Tester, Ben Nelson and Claire McCaskill — are expected to be close. Nor do they need reminding that a Republican majority in the Senate is at least three seats away.

“If this becomes an election all about the economy, there’s a major opening for a Republican candidate to appeal to Latino voters,” said Bob Moore, a Republican pollster. “But if it becomes about immigration, then it could be problematic for the Republican nominee.”

The biggest question now is, what will the GOP do? Will they actually implement a long-term effective strategy or wait until the a few months before Election Day to attempt to connect with Latino voters?

(blogging from my iPhone)

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Yes, Martin Luther King Was A Republican

I am in Atlanta, Georgia this week for a conference. Touring the area you can find many tributes to the great American leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was born in this city in January 1929.

King accomplished great things. He changed America and the hearts of many Americans. Many say his historical work created a domino effect which allowed for the election of our current president, Barack Obama. While many people know much of King’s life from the museums, documentaries and dozens of historic sites few people know he was a Republican.

At the time most African Americans were Republican, the party of Lincoln. Here is an article detailing, why Dr. Martin Luther King was a Republican and detailing the road of African Americans and political parties.

Why Martin Luther King Was Republican

It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S’s: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism.

It was the Democrats who fought to keep blacks in slavery and passed the discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. The Democrats started the Ku Klux Klan to lynch and terrorize blacks. The Democrats fought to prevent the passage of every civil rights law beginning with the civil rights laws of the 1860s, and continuing with the civil rights laws of the 1950s and 1960s.

During the civil rights era of the 1960s, Dr. King was fighting the Democrats who stood in the school house doors, turned skin-burning fire hoses on blacks and let loose vicious dogs. It was Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools. President Eisenhower also appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court, which resulted in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending school segregation. Much is made of Democrat President Harry Truman’s issuing an Executive Order in 1948 to desegregate the military. Not mentioned is the fact that it was Eisenhower who actually took action to effectively end segregation in the military.

Read more

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Republican Women Network the Network

Yesterday I spoke at the Republican National Committee’s Women’s Interactive Network Summit. Joined by dear friends Cathrine Favazza and Dr. Mellisa Clouthier we discussed how women can use new media as a communications tool and to increase political engagement. We were invited by RNC’s Director of New Media Todd Herman. He was also our emcee extraordinaire creating an incredibly interactive conversation and even posting questions on twitter during the panel discussion. Here are some pictures of the event.

Above: A room full of beautiful and smart Republican women eager to learn and lead.

Above: Katie, Melissa and I getting ready to speak to a packed room on how easy it is to get on-line.

Above: Sharon Day the Secretary of the Republican National Committee introducing the panel.

MORE PICTURES AFTER THE JUMP

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