Latinos for Donald Trump
*Here’s the gist of what Londoño is saying: Donald Trump is doing his part to anger the Latino community. What are we doing to turn that anger into action? VL
By Ernesto Londoño, The New York Times
I am rooting for Donald Trump.
Not because I want to see him attempt to build an impenetrable wall along the border with Mexico nor because I’ve been following his grotesque campaign with the kind of guilty gusto that got me hooked on the reality show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.”
[pullquote][tweet_dis]In 2016, an estimated 26.7 million Latinos will be eligible to vote, 58 percent more than a decade ago.[/tweet_dis][/pullquote]I’m rooting for Donald Trump because he could unlock the potential of America’s Latino electorate.
Hispanics, among the fastest-growing of all segments of eligible voters, played a crucial role in President Obama’s two elections. Yet, [tweet_dis]over the past couple of decades, pollsters and political operatives have regarded the Latino vote as a sleeping giant waiting for the right jolt.[/tweet_dis]
Hispanics have understandably responded to the xenophobic Trump campaign — which has hardened the immigration positions of other Republican candidates — with outrage. But many political organizers see him as a godsend.
“Quite frankly, it’s the best thing that can happen to us as community leaders to convince people that not participating in civic life has consequences,” said Ben Monterroso, the executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, one of several organizations that are mounting an ambitious effort to get Latinos to vote in 2016. “They’re challenging the Latino community to see if we’re going to be able to defend ourselves at the ballot box.”
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[Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr]
