Politico looks at how Democrats once again hope that they will win some statewide races in Arizona:
A new POLITICO/AARP poll shows Democrats ahead by 7 points in generic ballots in both the governor’s and Senate races. But to actually win statewide elections in this highly ethnically polarized state, Democrats will need to juice turnout among younger and especially older Latinos, who have tended to vote at lower rates than other voters in their age group — who also are trending ever more Republican. And not just in purplish Arizona: All across the U.S. Southwest, Latino voters could be the key to flipping Republican strongholds from red to blue, if only the Democratic Party can figure out how to get enough of them to the polls. Solve that mystery, and even a GOP-dominated state like Texas could suddenly be in play.
As Politico notes, it’s hardly the first time Democrats have gotten their hopes up. Still, they are hoping that this time, Trump’s presence really will get out the Democratic—and Latino—vote:
So Arizona does look increasingly like a battleground after years of wishful thinking on the left, and all it took was the surprise election of a certain Manhattan real estate mogul. But it’s going to take an unprecedented amount of Latino turnout for Democrats to win the big statewide races, and it’s likely to get ugly.
Garcia, the Democrat running for governor, expects Ducey to fight hard on immigration and identity issues, perhaps with ads tying him to MS-13, the violent Central American gang. But he’s betting that such an approach ultimately will hurt Ducey—particularly among older Latinos who worked so hard for decades to integrate into American society.
“I’m thinking of my dad,” he says. “It is going to backfire because I can think of my father saying, ‘Let me get this straight. You served, and they’re going to put this on you? What else do you need to do? … They’re still going to tag you because you’re brown?’ I believe that his generation is going to push back. Remember, this was a generation that fought for a place. And they look at someone like me and are proud of the role they played in allowing someone like me to have a place.”
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2018.
Why is George Soros so worried that socialism in the US will fail?
Why do Democrats always assume Hispanic (and black) voters are some mindless bloc that will vote for them automatically? The majority of Hispanic voters want less immigration. High immigration rates reduce wages for minorities, including Hispanics, disproportionately. Many Hispanics are socially conservative and oppose abortion. Many Hispanics are hard-working and favor free enterprise over a welfare state.
Good question bslap.
Democrats have tried to convince Latinos (& blacks, women, immigrants, & other minorities) that they’re stupid, helpless, irresponsible victims who can’t think for themselves & need the government to take care of them. Huge numbers of intelligent Hispanics in Arizona are Conservative. So are women & other minorities who are fed up with politicians treating them as if they’re lazy, stupid, helpless fools.
Garcia mentioned “older Latinos who worked so hard for decades to integrate into American society.”
Many have successfully done exactly that, & don’t fall for Democrat brainwashing & identity politics.
Why is there no mention of Steve Farley in this piece? David Garcia is not the only Democrat running for governor in AZ. Or are some people assuming that, in that Garcia is Hispanic hes the better candidate, more likely to *mobilize the Hispanic vote!*?
Lea Marquez Peterson will no doubt be working as hard as she can to *mobilize the Hispanic vote* as well, but shell be mobilizing cohorts of it that have high turn out (and high donation rates) in support of Ducey.
While Trump bloviates and distracts, there are several serious policy issues where Republicans are making progress that will potentially increase their appeal to Hispanic voters: cf. the conspicuous foregrounding of Catholic faith commitments in Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination acceptance speech, AZ Republicans tax credit and ESA programs, which appeal to those using Catholic schools, and increasing job opportunities in Southern Arizona and elsewhere.
Then, on the Democratic side, you have identity politics that unwisely assume greater commitment to racial identity than religious identity, failure to deliver quality services through public district schools serving low-SES, high minority populations, and lately you have a lot of self-righteous, belligerent, uncivil behavior directed at elected or appointed officials in public venues. The capacity of this behavior to alienate and disgust people of every ethnic identity should not be underestimated in the run-up to the mid-terms or in the run-up to the AZ governor election.
There is nothing more foolish than an African American or a Latino voting Republican. Don’t they realize that Party hates them?
It is the Republicans who play identity politics. Every single day they play on racist and xenophobic fears as a conscious strategy to mobilize voters. Every day they demonize brown and black people as a threat to the established order (i.e., white supremacy). Every day they tell lies about the border region. Every day they attack the right of women to govern their own bodies and make their own reproductive choices. Every day they play on people’s ignorance and religious intolerance to demonize Islam. Every day they tell lies about terrorism, pretending that it’s all because of Muslims, when the reality is that angry white men are by far the biggest terrorist threat in this country. Every day they work to amp up a corrupt and institutionally racist law enforcement culture that criminalizes entire neighborhoods full of people of color.
Every single day the Republicans divide people along racial and cultural and gender lines. When progressives react to that and work to rally the groups that are the targets of this demonizing and discrimination, then they are accused of playing “identity politics”. It’s a ridiculous FUX news talking point, and it pretty guarantees that the person spewing it is a complete fucking idiot who doesn’t have the slightest clue what’s really going on in this country.
Yeah, dump a lot of obsceneties on it. Thats the way to win an argument. The comment stream equivalent of the policy effectiveness of heckling officials in restaurants.
The Democratic Party is on its way out. They have nothing to offer except hatred of Trump, which wont win any election, locally or nationally.