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Jason Casellas, assistant professor of government. |
Si Se Puede
Politicians Court Latino Voters
Modern U.S. political rhetoric generally holds that elected leaders should "look like America." But, while national demographics are changing rapidly, the face of the government is slow to follow.
Latinos represent more than 13 percent of the U.S. population, but the community and the promise of a political leader sometimes called the "Great Brown Hope" have yet to dramatically alter the landscape of American politics.
Jason Casellas, assistant professor of government and co-director with David Leal of the Public Policy Institute, examines Latino politics, telescoping from the national to the state and local levels. He studies how Latinos vote, the conditions under which they are elected and what they do when they are in office.
Casellas cautions against being too quick to toss around the term "Latino voter." There is hardly one type of Latino who votes.
"It's difficult to speak of a Latino community because there are so many different groups," Casellas says. "Mexican Americans comprise two-thirds of the Latinos in the United States. Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans comprise the next two largest groups. But, there also are Colombians, Dominicans and Nicaraguans. And, the Washington, D.C., community is heavily Salvadoran.
"To look at Latinos as a monolithic group does a disservice to the nuances of difference within the community."
While lumping these individual ethnic identities together may be convenient, it doesn't reflect how Latinos think of themselves. Studies reveal that when asked to identify themselves, Latinos use their national origin--whether Mexican or Cuban or Puerto Rican--before the broader descriptor of Latino or Hispanic.
While the media may ignore these differences, offering sweeping stories on Latino voters, those seeking the support of these voters are catching on to the complexity of the community.
"Political parties are pretty savvy," Casellas says. "On one level they try to make mass appeals to Latinos, but their campaign ads are very selective. They use a different Spanish in Miami than they do in Texas. They are very sensitive when it comes to reaching specific communities."
They also are hiring specialists who craft Latino outreach programs, speaking at conferences such as the national Council of La Raza and appealing to Latinos on issues they care about, including education and jobs.
And then there's speaking Spanish, something considered key to George W. Bush's relative success with Latinos in 2004, when he won 35 percent of the Latino vote, the largest percentage secured by any Republican since Ronald Reagan. Casellas says Bush's Spanish helped him, as did his experience as governor of a state with a significant Latino population and his Latino family members.
Language alone, however, isn't enough.
"Latinos care about the issues and need to be spoken to as intelligent citizens," Casellas says, "rather than offered superficial appeals based on language. Candidates should speak of a sensible immigration policy and what they're going to do about education."
Casellas focuses largely on Latino candidates, where an upswing in representation looks promising to this self-proclaimed optimist. The election of three Latino senators since 2000--Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)-- is a good sign.
State politics offer insight to the factors that put Latinos in office. Of the 220 Texas state legislators, it's not surprising most were elected from majority-Latino districts. Latinos are far more likely to vote for a co-ethnic candidate. In fact, having a Latino on the ballot will bring out more Latino voters, and having one in office will make them more likely to contact their representative.
More surprising is that voters are electing Latinos in predominantly white districts, as well. Latinos are more likely than African Americans to win in majority-white districts and least likely to win in predominantly African American districts.
"During the 1970s, many people hoped there would be black-brown coalitions," Casellas says. "But there is not much evidence of that happening. Instead, we're seeing more coalitions develop with whites."
Latinos in office are no more monolithic than the Latino community. For example, Cuban American politicians are more conservative than Puerto Rican politicians, though they still vote to the left of white republicans. In general, Casellas has found Latinos keep their constituents at the forefront.
But, they may have a disproportionate interest in issues that affect Latinos, even if they represent a district that isn't strongly Latino. As an example, Casellas cites Mario Goico, a Cuban American who serves as a Republican state representative in Kansas.
Goico, who came to the United States as a boy in the 1960s, represents a district that is more than 90 percent white and is conservative generally. Yet when a bill came up for a vote that would repeal a law allowing students "without lawful immigration status" to receive resident tuition at Kansas universities, community colleges and vocational schools, Goico shot the bill down.
In part, the vote may have been personal. Goico is an immigrant who received an American college education. But, it also could be seen as evidence that having Latinos in state legislatures may lead to different policy outcomes.
"There could be a Hispanic identity that's driving him," Casellas says. "Having someone who cares about these issues in the legislation can make a tremendous difference."
What does that mean in the race toward the 2008 presidential election? How did New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, the former Democrat contender vying to be the first Mexican American president, play to a national audience?
Casellas says that remains to be seen. He says Richardson's candidacy was a great sign. As with African-American presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), it suggests the political playing field may be opening up.
Richardson tried to reach beyond his Southwest base of support and beyond being seen as an ethnic candidate. His approach was informative, as well. In a country undergoing rapid change, Richardson appealed to the politics of commonality and not the politics of difference.
"He did not just portray himself as a one-issue person or a Latino candidate," Casellas says. "He sold himself as an American candidate."
Despite Richardson's short run, one thing is clear: the presidential candidates vying for Americans' votes in 2008 will no doubt look to Latinos for support, especially in the "swing" states of Colorado, New Mexico and Florida, all of which have significant Latino populations.
By Vive Griffith