How Obama Can Strenghten Ties with Latinos

We’re at the point of the year when folks are shaking off the dust of this year’s battles and making plans for the one’s to come. Much of the speculation about the looming political skirmishes concerns the Latino community: How big is it, exactly? How will Latinos vote? Will they be fairly represented through the redistricting process? How will the political parties fair in attracting the Latino Vote?

This last question seems to be the most immediate one. Republicans and Democrats are focused on short-term political gains and are using hot-button issues to either cozy-up to Latinos or bolster their rank-and-file by demonizing immigrants.

President Barak Obama will be looking to the Latino community to strengthen his chances for re-election in two years, and that may be why the Miami Herald’s Andres Oppenheimer wrote a piece suggesting ways in which the president could “reconnect with Hispanics.”

Oppenheimer suggests three areas where Obama can work to strengthen his position among Latinos: immigration, free trade and ties with Latin America.

On immigration, Obama lost the DREAM Act battle. An although it was Republican senators who defeated the bill, many believe Obama didn’t do enough to ensure its passage, especially in light of the fact that immeiatly after the DREAM Act vote Obama successfully pressed congress for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.  Also, the President faild, for a second year in a row, to fullfill his promise to enact comprehensive immigration reform.

On free trade, Obama is looking toward an agreement with South Korea, but a similar pact with Panama and Colombia is idly sitting with no apparent energy to move them forward.

And on ties to Latin America, Obama promised to have a hand in the forging of “a new alliance of the Americas.” He had promised to appoint a special envoy to the Americas. He hasn’t.

The president seems to think, maybe rightly, that the 65 percent of the Latino voters who favored him in the polls last time around will do so again in 2 years. Oppenheimer thinks it would do him good to move on these three fronts anyway.

You can read the entire editorial HERE.