While Joe Biden usually avoids extensive interviews with national news channels, he did so last week for Univision.
After months of Trump’s appearance on the network, the interview with the Hispanic media behemoth wasn’t merely a tit-for-tat. Biden was essentially conceding that he needs to take additional steps to win back the support of Hispanic voters who have grown disillusioned with him.
Biden’s campaign is stepping up its attempts to reach out to this crucial voting bloc. The campaign is targeting Latino voters who watch soccer games on ESPN Deportes and LaLiga with its advertising. Vice President Kamala Harris and Vice President Joe Biden both made extensive interviews with Hispanic media outlets during their separate trips to the West Coast last month. Additionally, the campaign has started reaching out to Latino voters with a new app called Reach.
Hispanic voters are aware of the stakes, according to Michelle Villegas, who is in charge of Latino outreach for the Biden team. However, there is a lack of data. Connecting the dots is our duty on this campaign.
Latinos Con Biden-Harris, their Hispanic outreach effort, began significantly earlier than previous Democratic presidential campaigns, according to aides. This includes Biden’s 2020 campaign. The reelection campaign is taking a potentially fatal political problem seriously, according to fellow Democrats, who are equally concerned about the early spending and growing outreach.
Latino vote director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign Lorella Praeli stated, “This to me seems like a campaign who’s saying, ‘Holy shit, we’ve got to get out, and early, and we have to be in front of people.'” “I really hope they’re using a surround sound strategy,” I thought.
While Latino voter turnout is low, 63% of Hispanics voted for Biden in 2020. Despite this, some Democrats have expressed concern that Hispanics are abandoning the party, especially in crucial swing states. “I need you badly,” the president said while outlining the stakes during a recent trip to Arizona. “I am in desperate need of assistance,” Biden stated. You’re the main reason I was able to defeat Donald Trump, I promise you.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. poses an additional threat to Biden’s support among Latinos. Kennedy, who is well-known among Latinos, surprised researchers by doing well in a dozen swing states, according to a survey by the Democratic organization Equis Research. Arizona and Nevada are two places where Kennedy may potentially run for office, and her inclusion there would be a further obstacle for Biden’s Latino voter effort.
An essential component in this case is the third party candidate. According to Praeli, Latino voters are considering more than just Biden v. Trump. Additionally, Latino voters are being urged to remain at home. In an effort to demobilize this space, there are powerful interests at work.
Aides maintain that they are fully engaged in the situation. They are achieving this in part by tailoring their strategy to individual targets.
The campaign’s $30 million television buy this spring included ads with a variety of Spanish dialects, including Spanglish, which appeals more to young Latino voters. Ads with a Puerto Rican accent have been running in the Pennsylvania town of Allentown, where there is a large Puerto Rican population. Florida’s Cuban and Venezuelan communities, as well as Nevada and Arizona’s Mexican electorates, have all been targeted by their advertisements.
In addition to having organizers who speak both English and Spanish on the ground, the campaign intends to keep a bilingual presence in states that are considered to be battlegrounds for the next seven months. Voters receive a steady supply of pro-Biden material and messages through the Reach app, which volunteers may customize and send to their friends via text messaging.
However, there have been some snags in the Biden campaign’s efforts. “Three gringos in Coral Gables launch Biden-Harris Latino campaign (Sad trombone.)” was a piece written by prominent Miami Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago criticizing the rollout of a voter outreach event in Coral Gables. It was pointed out by Santiago that the three main emcees, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, and Florida Democratic Party head Nikki Fried, were all white.
Although areas like Florida offer a significant opportunity for Biden, Praeli brushed down the criticism by stating that what’s important is ongoing and consistent participation. She went on to say that Americans are still feeling the effects of inflation, and that the president has seven months to paint a favorable picture of his economic performance. On the topics of immigration and gun control, there are additional openings for communicating to Latino voters.
“They need to draw greater contrast with Trump on immigration,” Praeli added. Voters will have a hard time figuring out who supports what if that doesn’t happen.
According to data from the Pew Research Center, the Latino population has had the second-fastest rate of growth among major racial and ethnic groups since the last election. This year, there are a projected 36.2 million Latino voters, which is an increase from 32.3 million in 2020. As of November, they are anticipated to constitute a record-breaking 14.7% of all eligible voters.
Latino voters continue to favor Democrats, according to polls. But among Latino voters, the party’s long-standing lead has evaporated, reaching a level not seen in decades.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Latino voters are now among the most receptive demographics in American politics. Democrats continue to hold the majority. Former Bernie Sanders senior adviser and Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, who specializes in Latino voters, said that as the vote progresses, it has become more of a vote that requires more time spent convincing than simply turning out. “And I believe that’s the reason the Biden campaign is making priority and getting a head start, because they’ve come to that realization.”
Recent surveys reveal that the ex-president is gaining support among Latino voters, which presents an opportunity for the Trump campaign. According to Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez’s comments to HEADLINESFOREVER, Biden’s “idea of Hispanic outreach was playing ‘Despacito.'” This comment was made in response to a clip that went viral in 2020 during a campaign stop in Florida.
Now that Hispanics are aware of Biden’s despacito, they will understand why President Trump is achieving historic gains when his “Latinx outreach” team lands in our communities: She argued that Biden’s policies had ruined the American Dream, increased prices across the board, and caused a carnage at the border. “Our nation’s economic woes, the border crisis, and the need to Make America Great Again are the reasons why a large number of Hispanics will support President Trump.”
Biden campaign officials are aware of the difficulty that lies ahead. However, they also deny that Trump is receiving support from Latinos in the polls. Their theory is that the ex-president will suffer due to the Republican Party’s dismantling of community centers that were intended to reach minority voters.
This voting bloc is not a homogeneous entity, they point out. Latinos are still relatively young, and they still agree with Biden on climate change, gun control, and immigration, according to Matt Barreto, who is in charge of Biden’s Latino polling. You can’t generalize too much, but they think Latino voters will be turned off by Trump’s policies on immigration, such as family separation and mass deportations.
With Hispanics, Trump has absolutely no chance of winning. A hundred percent. We ought to be further ahead of schedule. And we’re making progress on it. Nevertheless, Barreto assured that their support was not dwindling.
At this time, our only information regarding the Latino vote is that it is novel. Being young is a good thing. A record number of people who are voting for the first or second time were not eligible to vote during Obama’s presidency, he went on to say. Their degree of political knowledge is quite low, therefore when they are contacted for a survey through phone, email, or text, it indicates that they are part of the electorate.