‘Latino Vote’ Doesn’t Equal ‘Pro-Immigrant’

Much has been made about how instrumental the Latino vote was in keeping the Democrats with some kind of power this election cycle — even if they didn’t deserve it — but is it really that simple?  While the “Latino vote” had power this time around, there’s compelling evidence (hello Susana Martinez and Brian Sandoval) that this voting bloc won’t stay blue for too long unless the Dems get movin’ on doing something different.

The Politico reported much of the same thing other news outlets reported about the Latino vote, but added:

“Hispanic voters saved the Democratic Party Tuesday…But that support is anything but certain for 2012, and both parties face difficult and immediate choices when it comes to the Latino vote as they position themselves for the presidential election. Democrats face open demands from Hispanic leaders for a reward for their votes. President Barack Obama could erect a Western bulwark for his reelection campaign by — as Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) suggested to POLITICO — pressing for broad immigration reform in the lame-duck session. But immigration could also prove, like health care, a polarizing, impolitic detour from the economic issues preoccupying voters.”

Then a brilliant piece by Shikha Dalmia of Forbes took it a step further by implying that immigrant bashing is “going ethnic.”  She points to Tea Party candidates Mark Rubio of Florida (Senate) and governors Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Susana Martinez of New Mexico as proof that “anti-immigration sentiment is driven by economic and other fears that have to be addressed anew for every generation regardless of its ethnic make-up.”

She continues: …all of this assumes that today’s minorities will be tomorrow’s immigration advocates. However, this election casts severe doubts on that assumption. Indeed, one of the hugely under-reported stories of this election is that Republicans fielded far more minority candidates than Democrats — and they won by touting a restrictionist agenda, proof positive that skin color — and even immigration status — are not always correlated with enlightened immigration views.” (The rest of the column is here)

The short version, as I wrote last week, is that Democrats need to stop taking Latino — and other ethnic voters — for granted and start backing some non-white candidates.  Latino voters, like others, don’t want to keep playing second fiddle to the white Democratic establishment for all of time, especially when they helped build it, they want in, too.  If the Democrats want to compete in the future they’re going to have to learn a lesson from Republicans and start sharing the power.