President Obama's recent executive order on immigration and rousing speech at the annual NALEO conference in June already had him in great standing with Latino voters, but when Mitt Romney failed to show up or send representation to last weekend's NCLR convention of Latino civil rights activists in Las Vegas, he basically sealed the deal for the president in the Obama vs. Romney latino issues bout.
Both Obama and Romney declined invitations to speak to the thousands of Latino activists who gathered at the convention, but Obama did manage to send some heavy-hitters in his stead: Attorney General Eric Holder, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. The three officials spoke out on policy proposals and reaffirmed the Obama administration's commitment to Latino civil rights issues.
Obama's outreach efforts paid off. NCLR officials conducted a text message survey of 804 people, and found that more than 80% of participants plan to cast their ballots for the president in November. A paltry 10% of responders said they're voting for Romney.
"We are particularly disappointed not to hear from Gov. Romney," said NCLR president Janet Marguia. "Our community is eager to know his positions, because for many of us, the last time that we really hear from him, the last that we know of him, is some of the positions he took during the primaries. This represents, quite simply, a huge missed opportunity."
Politicians would do well to pay attention to issues affecting the Latin and Hispanic communities. According to a government census published in August, 2011, the Hispanic population is the fastest-growing minority in the country. By their projections, Hispanics will constitute 30% of the nation's population by July 1, 2050.
"Traditionally, Latinos have broken two-to-one for Democrats versus Republicans. But Latinos also have historically been willing to split the ticket and support candidates regardless of political affiliation," said NCLR spokeswoman Camilla Gallardo. "There are not so many examples of this in the recent past, but...the idea that Latinos will never vote for a Republican - we know that this is not true. But you have to work for it. Nothing is free."