The biggest obstactle to winning the White House for the Republicans is the Latino vote. The party has been trying to court this demographic for the last two election cycles and lost each time. They’re trying again and failing miserably.
Republican approval rating among Latino voters is abysmal. Salon reported that only 22 percent of Latino voters support the GOP on the economy or job creation, while 20 percent supports the GOP on immigration. A Republican nominee would need to lock in at least 40 percent of all Latino voters to have a shot at winning in 2016. Consistent alienation of this demographic is not helping the GOP.
According to a Univision poll, the leading candidate among Latino voters is Jeb Bush, who only has 27 percent. The next three candidates after that are Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Scott Walker, whose Latino support is at 25, 22, and 20 percent, respectively. Those numbers are no where near what a GOP candidate would need to win. You can blame candidate Donald Trump for the low numbers, as he’s alienated Latino voters and created a schism in the GOP over immigration.
Republican unpopularity among Latinos isn’t a fluke or temporary dip. This is a long-standing narrative. But when your policy affects, degrades, and alienates an entire demographic, this is the result. We can expect the lack of Latino support will kill the GOP’s chances at winning the White House, once again. Our fingers are crossed.
