Why are Latinos backing Bernie?
WILL NEVADA MAKE SANDERS UNSTOPPABLE?
Bernie Sanders appears to be scoring big with Latinos in Nevada and elsewhere, and if that turns out to be true then he could in fact be unstoppable.
Sanders is surging with 33% in Nevada, the first diverse contest of the 2020 presidential cycle. Former Vice President Joe Biden and businessman Tom Steyer came in second and third place with 22% and 12% in the recent Univision News poll.
Equally significant is that overall Hispanic voters – including Republicans –
believe Sanders has the best chance to beat President Donald Trump in November, the same survey showed.
The rest of the field isn't catching fire with Latinos in Nevada, who make up about 29% of Nevada’s roughly 3 million population. Almost 20% of Nevada’s eligible voters are Hispanic, according to the Pew Research Center.
Whatever the results, Nevada’s caucus on Saturday is a crucial test for the Democrats heading into Super Tuesday on March 3 when more than a dozen states, including California, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Alabama and Arkansas, will hold their presidential primary. Arizona voters won't have a say until Mach 17.
“The numbers speak for themselves – with 30 million eligible voters, Latinos are once again poised to play a decisive role in Election 2020,” National Association of Latino Elected Officials Educational Fund’s chief executive officer Arturo Vargas said in a statement.
NALEO and eight other civil rights and civic engagement groups are teaming up to register Latinos and increase their voter turnout. The head of these organizations launched the national effort in Nevada earlier this month.
“This is the first election cycle where 4 million more eligible voters will get to vote for the first time since Donald Trump referred to our family members as rapists and criminals,” said Danny Friedman, managing director of Voto Latino, an online voter-registration advocacy group.
The Trump administration has unquestionably gone after foreigners and the poor, which has impacted the lives of many Latinos. But will that be enough to fire up the Hispanic electorate to defeat him?
Not necessarily. And for that reason, presidential candidates must have a strategy to get them to vote.
Other than Sanders and Biden, the remaining candidates seeking the Democratic nomination – former mayor of South Bend (Ind.) Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota – are struggling to gain traction with Latinos. Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is not on the Nevada ballot.
It's no surprise that Sanders is leading the pack with Latinos. He has been consistently speaking on issues that resonate, such as good paying jobs, free college, health care for all and an immigration reform with a path to U.S. citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Whether Sanders can pull off a victory against Trump is a different question. Latinos, just like the rest of the electorate, are focused on bread-andbutter issues like jobs, access to college and healthcare.
Trump has deeply offended Latinos with his racist rhetoric and anti-immigrant policies, namely separating migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border, stricter asylum rules and fewer visas. Will that be enough, though, to motivate Latinos to actually vote, especially with a strong economy and low unemployment?
Sanders is making a strong case and positioning himself as the best choice.