GOP candidates slow to reach Hispanic voters
More than 50 million Hispanics live in the USA, a 46% increase from the past decade, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
Hispanics made up 6.9% of voters in last year's midterm elections, up from 5.8% in 2006, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Sixty percent of Hispanics voted for Democratic candidates, Pew records show.
Even though it's early in the Republican primary process, this is when Hispanic outreach needs to start, Republican consultants said, rather than become a last-ditch effort at the end of a general election campaign.
"There is no other way to achieve victory outside of that, and that includes showing up and talking issues with Hispanic voters," said Danny Diaz, a former spokesman for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008. "In the absence of that, the Republican candidate will not win the presidency."
Hispanics backed Democrat Barack Obama over McCain, R-Ariz., by 67% to 31% in 2008, records show. Obama and his campaign organization have made moves to keep their support.
For example, Obama visited Puerto Rico Tuesday for the first official presidential visit since John F. Kennedy went there 50 years ago.
Organizing for America, a precursor to Obama's formal 2012 campaign, has begun to set up Hispanics for Obama groups in central Florida, recruiting and training Spanish-speaking volunteers to work phone banks and registering Puerto Ricans to vote.
Few of the Republican candidates who have officially declared their bid for the White House appear to be as far along in their outreach efforts.
None of the campaign websites for the major contenders has a Spanish-language version, only one appears to have staff dedicated to Hispanic outreach.
"I sense they are all getting their political operations up and running, just as they are getting their fundraising operations up and running," said GOPAC President David Avella. GOPAC provides financial and logistical support to Republicans on the state and local levels.
Candidates must do three things to reach out to Hispanic voters effectively, said Hector Barajas, the Latino communication specialist for Republican Meg Whitman's California gubernatorial campaign in 2010, They must identify the issues that Latinos care about, employ the right people to deliver the campaign message to their communities and be culturally sensitive.
If Republicans are just starting to build their Hispanic outreach, "it's already too late," Barajas said. "They should have already done this. It needs to be a year-round effort."
Two Republican candidates have made some early efforts to contact Hispanic voters.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich long ago began establishing roots in the Hispanic community through his various businesses, including The Americano, a conservative Hispanic news site. He gave one of his first interviews after announcing his candidacy to Univision. Sylvia Garcia, Hispanic outreach director for the Gingrich campaign, will lead Gingrich's"Hispanic inclusion" effort that is likely to launch in the coming months.
Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty was the only 2012 contender to attend the Hispanic Leadership Network conference in Florida in January. The event, co-chaired by former Florida governor Jeb Bush and former Commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez, was sponsored by the Republican American Action Network.
"I think you need to actually recognize there is a need to do that and show up," Pawlenty said last month.
Alex Conant, a spokesman for Pawlenty, said the campaign was working with Univision to schedule Pawlenty on a Sunday show in the near future."[Hispanic outreach] is a long-term and real priority," he said.
Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, said Paul places a "high value" on Hispanic outreach.
"We know that Dr. Paul's message of personal liberty, strong families and vision for economic prosperity have a natural appeal to Hispanics and will make communicating to Latinos a priority for our team," he said.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney courted Hispanic voters during his 2008 presidential bid, but it was unclear what the campaign planned for 2012.
Spokesmen for Romney and former senator Rick Santorum, R-Pa., did not return requests for comment about their outreach strategies.
Candidates should focus on more than just immigration, Barajas said, as polls have shown that Hispanics care more about the economy and health care.
Mark Lopez, associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center, agreed with Barajas but added that over the past 10 years, Hispanics perceive Democrats as caring more about their issues.
"We have regularly asked Hispanics registered voters, 'Which party do you think has more concerns for the Hispanic community, the Republican Party or the Democrat Party,'" Lopez said. "The Democratic Party is seen as having more concern than Republicans."
Clarissa Martinez-De-Catro, director of Immigration and National Campaigns for the National Council of La Raza, said that although immigration may not be the most important issue among some Latinos, the heated rhetoric that occurs when the issue is brought up is not easily dismissed.
"A lot of folks like to say that Latinos don't just care about immigration, and therefore they don't have to address the immigration issue to be able to reach out effectively," she said. "When the immigration debates turns negative, and it has been nothing but in the last couple of years, it has an impact on the community most closely associated with that issue."