No Joke: Trump Can Win Plenty of Latinos

A new poll of Latino GOPers puts Trump ahead. Way ahead. And yes, there's an explanation, in the fault lines within the Latino community.

Latinos for Trump? Oh yeah, that's a thing.

Keep in mind three points. First, you have to understand that we're talking here primarily about Latino Republicans, many of whom might live in red states such as Arizona or Texas. Those Latinos who are Democrats (as about 80 percent of them are, according to surveys) are busy dividing up their support between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, with most of it going to Clinton.

Also, when you look at the slate of Republicans running for president, which recently got shorter with the departures of several candidates after Iowa and New Hampshire, you have to consider what is behind Door No. 2. Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush can be expected to do well with Latinos. Ted Cruz might even do better than expected with those voters. Beyond that, it's slim pickings, and so Trump might not look so bad.

Finally, if it's true that Trump is inspiring voters who feel alienated and abandoned by the political process, then the fact that there might be Latinos who support Trump makes sense. America's largest minority knows about alienation and abandonment. So they are no more immune than other voters to what South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley described as Trump's "siren call." What he's saying and how he is saying it may be resonating with many Latino voters.

A new poll confirms it. In the national survey, which was conducted by Beck Research on behalf of the American Federation for Children, 38 percent of Latinos favor Trump. Ted Cruz got 15 percent. Jeb Bush pulled in 14 percent. And Marco Rubio, the guy who's supposed to be the one who could unite the party and win? Just 8 percent.

There is also anecdotal information, including conversations I've had in recent months with Latino friends who are leaning toward voting for Trump.

There are also the emails I receive from readers like Ernesto Villareal, a Texas Latino who referred to himself as an "Orgulloso Tejano Americano." Villareal wrote the following:
"I have voted Democratic all my life. However, it will be a cold day in hell if I will vote for Mrs. Clinton. I strongly believe that Mr. Trump is the one to turn this great country of ours in the right direction."

Or the one I got recently from another reader named Chuck Castillo, who wrote this after I bashed Trump:
"You never get it, do you? Trump, himself, is not the issue. Do you really believe that Trump hates Latinos? What you should be paying attention to is that so many Americans agree with what he said. That so many Americans agree with what Trump says is indicative that immigrants have lost in the court of public opinion and that's where they had to win."

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I don’t know any other Latinos out here who are democrats, either-and we all absolutely loathe mojados...

You need to look at how blue Texas is along the border and rethink that part about Latinos not being Democrats. The blue parts of Texas show up along the Texas/Mexico border. You ask them why they vote Democrat and they will tell you thats because that is the way their family has always voted. The younger ones are now learning it PAYS.....

Your last part I absolutely agree with. Working class Mexicans in South Texas call them straight out mojados (wet backs) ( I guess I can use that word since I am a cracker whitey bohunk) when they see them. They steal their jobs and make them look bad.

A Cuban-American Republican lawyer friend in West Palm Beach hates Trump because he wants to deport a large slice of his client base. His mother though loves Trump and is an energetic advocate for him. Not only does she like what Trump says, but she knows Trump from when she ran a hair style shop in Palm Beach that he and his family patronized.

Trump was always polite and engaged with the women in the shop -- all of them Hispanic, by the way. A generous tipper, Trump was on time for appointments and remembered the names of the women in the shop and even the names of their family members, taking a conversational interest in and praising their accomplishments. Trump's wife and children were polite and pleasant as well. The good conduct of Trump and his family was distinct from the sometimes dismal behavior of other wealthy customers.

Trump's Jacksonian populism resonates with many ordinary Americans worried over the country's drift and the ominous signs of decline and elite dishonesty. By intuition, luck, or calculation, Trump has thereby also grabbed onto the point of leverage for a strong appeal to many Hispanic Americans. Hispanic and immigrant or the children of immigrants they may be, but they also have a strong sense of patriotism and pride in the country.

When matched against a Democratic nominee who can barely utter a kind word about America, Trump's robust Americanism has the potential to make deep inroads into many Democratic strongholds. I would like to think that any GOP nominee could do the same, but as a group they lack Trump's bravura manner in seizing the spotlight and getting his message out. Most of the GOP filed would fail to get much attention with anything less than lighting themselves on fire and running out on the field during a nationally televised ball game.

I’m from a ranch in SW Texas-my family has lived in SW/W Texas since the late 1780’s-I’m quite well aware of the “blue” corruption of the border areas-I remember the talk by adults about that corruption when I was a kid-but those were not the people my family hung out with-most of the democrats lived in towns and cities even back then.

I’m Latino, do blue collar work because I like it-and I have no problem calling an illegal a mojado-that is what they are-out here, if someone hires them and we find out about it, we call la migra, too...

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