Latinos Hitting Political “Stride”
I’ve been having very interesting conversations/exchanges over the interwebs recently, having to do mostly with Latinos and political power. Maybe it’s the anticipation of the drilled-down Census numbers that are set to be released next month, or the deep thinking about the mid-term election that just passed-the thing is that there’s a buzz across the country about national politics and Latinos’ place in it.
In California, where in the midst of a national GOP tide they elected a Democrat to replace Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Latino voting participation numbers are impressive. A post by NBCBayArea.com is calling it the “Latino Stride,” which is much better than the tired and bandied sleeping giant.
Here are the numbers they mention:
“Two facts make the Latino vote a powerful voice which many still do not understand. First, their numbers. California Latinos comprised 22 percent of the vote and 38 percent of the population in the Nov. 2 election.
Compare these numbers with 1978, when Latinos accounted for only 8 percent of the vote and 19 percent of the population. Slowly but surely, the percentage of the Latino vote is catching up with their percent of the population.
Second, their partisan disposition. According to two exit polls from the last election, somewhere between 64 and 80 percent of Latinos voted for Democrat Jerry Brown over Republican Meg Whitman. Of all the ethnic groups in California, only African-Americans were more loyal to the Democrats, but their numbers pale to the number of Latinos in the state.”
The talk I keep hearing is about the potentially strong political force that Latinos can be, given their numbers and growth. But numbers alone, without action or participation, are not enough to make a difference. These stats from California paint a changing picture.
There’s hope in this; not a partisan hope, just a hope in the people that make the system work. We’ve been waiting and wondering when Latinos would wake up, and I’ve been saying they were already awake: here’s proof.
The questions now are: Is this Latino Stride real? And, will the trend move East?
