I am getting to like Al Jazeera American more than MSNBC (though former Nation Editor Chris Hayes does some great reporting - Yes reporting)
This is a piece from Al Jazeera America published November 6, 2014
http://america.aljazeera.com/...
Within hours of voters’ giving Republicans legislative control in Washington and dealing President Barack Obama a sharp rebuke in the process, Latino groups clamoring for immigration reform began telling both parties that inaction before the 2016 elections will come at a price.
“For us, the election of 2016 starts today,” said Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota. “The vote taken yesterday sends a very clear message. We want action on issues that matter to our community … The Republican Party now has the responsibility to govern.”
Latinos are an increasingly powerful presence in elections. By the 2016 presidential election, 28 million Latinos will be eligible to vote, up from 25 million now. Even more eligible Latino voters are on the horizon. More than 900,000 Latinos will turn 18 every year from now until 2028 — more than 12 million over 14 years — and Latinos who turn 18 in the United States are more likely to be eligible to vote because most were born here.
And they want Obama to act. He delayed executive action on immigration reform this year until after the midterms so any backlash would not hurt Democratic candidates.
Most of this should not be surprising to any of us. But this passage disturbs me and it should disturb all of us.
While Obama received 87% of the Latino vote in 2012, it decreased to 70% for Udall in 2014. This occurred while the Latino Vote increased to15% of the total electorate in Colorado. Could that have made a difference in Colorado, you do the math
The poll found that only 4 in 10 Latino voters were contacted by get-out-the-vote groups — a third of them from community organizations.
“But whites overwhelmingly received contact from their political party,” Barreto said.
“Outreach and mobilization efforts were anemic,” said Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy group. “We need to do more to reach out.” Her organization registered 120,000 atino voters this year.L
Corey Gardner did not win the Latino Vote! Udall lost it even though he was a sponsor of the Immigration Reform and Human Rights reform that he chose not to run on his campaign
What about this "Ground Game" I saw part of this Ground Game volunteering for Sean Eldridge and it was not the miracle everyone thought it was . (I will start a thread about that later)
i believe 2016 will be a better year. The GOP will self destruct its not "if its when" But waiting for the GOP to collapse is not a winning strategy Stop trying to reach out to the same voter population the GOP does. Its a lost cause. The Democratic Party is a party of minorities. Even when you present the arguments, they will agree with you and "vote for them" The Minimum Wage ballots should prove that.
There are very good journalists in the Latino Community: Fernando Espula , Jose Diaz-Barlart,Carlos Galindo and the Latino Decisions group that have a good pulse on outreach activities. They can be an excellent resouce if we chose to"reach out " to them.
President Obama, if he acts boldly, can turn around with the right executive action The louder the GOP Screams, the angrier the comments, the better it is for us. Also a decade down the road, "White Bread states like Kansas, Nebraska , Iowa Where is most of they new populations coming from? If not for Latino and Asian Immigration,most of these states would show negative population growth.