Is the Latino voting bloc just a myth? It’s complicated
*It’s interesting how even conservative Latino writers are at a loss to explain the Latino vote. It’s funny that we find common ground in the not really knowing. VL
By Ruben Navarrete, Washington Post Writer’s Group (4 minute read)
Last week’s presidential election has people asking: Do Latinos really vote as a bloc? Or is that just a myth intended to make America’s largest minority, and one of the country’s fastest-growing groups of voters, seem more important than it really is?
The answer is complicated.
It is true that — unlike African-Americans, about 90 percent of whom tend to vote for the Democratic candidate on the ballot — Latinos usually show less unity and cohesion. In fact, in 2012 they were labeled “swing” voters by Time magazine — as unpredictable a demographic as suburban moms.
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While more than 60 percent of Latino voters identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning, many of them are willing to put aside party labels and support moderate Republicans. See: former President George W. Bush, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
[Photo courtesy of 12News]
