The Latino engine is driving the Bernie Sanders Express

SAN DIEGO >> Coming out of left field, the 2020 election has produced the ultimate odd couple: Bernie Sanders and the Latinos.

How important were Latinos to Sanders’ victories this week on Super Tuesday? Well, he triumphed in states with significant numbers of Latinos — prevailing in Utah (14.2%) and Colorado (21.7%) and was poised to take the biggest prize of all, California (39.3%).

As usual, the trickster was Texas (39.6% Latino). The purple state usually keeps political observers guessing. For most of the night, Sanders and Joe Biden were virtually tied there. The state eventually went to Biden, thanks largely to his steadfast support from African American voters and the fact that Tejanos (or Texas Latinos) tend to be more conservative than those in other Southwest states.

Even so, according to exit polls, Sanders beat Biden — the new frontrunner — by 20 points among Latinos in Texas.

So, Mr. Sanders and the Latinos. That’s a thing now? You bet.

Who could have imagined that a 78-year-old white democratic socialist with a history of opposing legal status for undocumented immigrants to protect U.S. workers from the nuisance of competing with them would owe much of his electoral success to a tribe of Democrats who respect immigrants for doing the crummy jobs Americans won’t do anyway, tend to be drawn to youthful candidates and often despise socialism for destroying the Latin American countries their ancestors fled?

Before Bernie the Explorer discovered the heavily Latino (read: “Mexican American”) Southwest — first Nevada, where the senator dominated the caucuses, and then the Super Tuesday states — Sanders’ interest in all things Latino seemed limited to food at his favorite pseudoMexican restaurant in Vermont.

Suddenly, the two are inseparable. But, honestly, I don’t know how they found each other. They come from different worlds, believe different things and live in different regions. They have different opinions about protectionism, nativism and socialism.

They also seem to have different work ethics. The Vermont senator has avoided the private sector and cashed government checks for 40 years. Latinos start more businesses than any other ethnic group.

Sanders seems to think our country’s best days are behind her and that America is a corrupt oligarchy where the wealthy control everything. Latinos are natural optimists, convinced that it’s OK if today isn’t great because tomorrow may be better.

Latinos are not a monolithic “bloc.” We’re divided by age, income, education level and country of origin. We debate whether we’re rural vs. urban, white collar vs. blue collar, partisan vs. independent or immigrant vs. native. Some identify with Mexico or Puerto Rico or El Salvador, while others consider ourselves first and foremost Americans. And in this election, some of us want the socioeconomic transformation that Sanders promises, while others just want to defeat Donald Trump.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., gave Sanders the blessing early on in this campaign and christened him “Tío Bernie.” It was clever branding. Latinos expect their uncles to be a little loco, but we love them anyway.

The Sanders campaign was also smart. Throughout the Southwest, it not only bought TV ads but also set up an effective ground game. In Nevada, the “Sanderistas” marched in six months before the caucuses and sent volunteers to knock on doors in Latino neighborhoods.

The direct marketing approach paid off. According to entrance polls in the Silver State, Sanders won 51% of the Latino vote. And the duel in the desert was just a warmup to Super Tuesday.

This election year, Latino voters are the engine powering The Bernie Express. That may not be easy to understand, but it’s impossible to deny.