Sunday, May 3, 2015

Ted Cruz Claims to Have the Key to Hispanic Vote, And It’s Shockingly Simple

Independent Journal Review ^ | May 2, 2015 | Frank Camp 

CNN reports that, while speaking to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Ted Cruz took a swipe at Mitt Romney’s infamous “47 percent” remark.
Cruz reframed the conversation, taking the opportunity to connect the remark to the Hispanic vote:
“The media repeatedly said the reason Mitt Romney got clobbered in the Hispanic community was because of immigration…the data don’t bear that out…”
“What the polling data showed is actually Hispanic voters agree with Mitt Romney on a great many issues. Where he got clobbered was ‘cares about somebody like me.’ Where he got clobbered was the 47 percent–you remember the infamous comment…”
“I think Republicans are and should be the party of the 47 percent.”
While Cruz received only 35% of the Hispanic vote in his 2012 Senate race, conservative politicians made some considerable gains in the 2014 mid-terms.
According to Pew Research, Greg Abbott of Texas garnered 44% of the Hispanic vote, and David Perdue of Georgia garnered 42%.
This is significant, given that just two years prior, Mitt Romney received only 27% of the national Hispanic vote.
Ted Cruz may be on to something. Despite Pew reporting that 84% of Hispanic voters say a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants is more important or equally important as securing the border:
“When it comes to their vote, half (54%) of Latino registered voters say they would vote for a candidate who disagrees with them on immigration policy if that candidate agrees with them on most other issues.”
On Wednesday, Cruz said:
“We asked Hispanic voters in Texas what your number one issue is. You know what percent said immigration? Three percent…54 percent said jobs and the economy.”
It appears that 2016 will be the laboratory that puts this concept to the test.

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