Governor Scott lobbying for Hispanic vote in 2014

Governor Scott lobbying for Hispanic vote in 2014

By Roger Caldwell

In 2012, there were 538,000 Hispanics registered as independents, 476,000 registered as Republicans, and 645,000 registered as Democrats. Many experts think the Florida governor election in 2014 will be decided by the Hispanic vote.

There are 1.6 million African Americans registered as Democrats in the state of Florida, and Scott is aware that 90 percent of the Black vote will vote Democrat in the election in 2014. As a result of the number of Hispanics registered as independents, Scott will not focus on the Black vote. Instead, Scott will concentrate his efforts and spending his funding in the Hispanic communities.

“Minority outreach can make the difference in the 2014 election; especially outreach to Florida’s 4.3 million Hispanics is the key. Otherwise, we’re going to be the party of whites in an electorate, in a shrinking electoral pool, that we can’t win,” says Tony Fabrizio, Scott’s pollster.

Governor Scott knows that demographics in the state are changing and in 2012, Obama won Florida even with a Republican governor. According to Florida Division of Elections, there is now 40% of Florida voters who are Democrats, 36 percent Republicans, and 22 percent are independents. Since Scott knows that the numbers are not in his favor, it is time to mislead and fool the Hispanics and independents to think that he cares about their welfare.

Ex-governor Jeb Bush has always understood the power of the Hispanic vote in Florida, but Scott has always written off their vote, but in 2014 he cannot win only with the Republicans and the Tea Party vote. Governor Scott will be forced to take a position on immigration, because most Republicans, and Scott included, say that Hispanics immigrants take jobs away from United States citizens. Our governor also during his purging of voter rolls, many Hispanics are at the top of his list.

This election will be very interesting because Scott will probably use Sen. Marco Rubio to prove that Florida Republicans, and our governor care about Hispanics. But out of the other side of his mouth, he will have to appease the Tea Party radicals by advancing the narrative that immigrants are takers, dishonest and many illegal.

On the other hand Florida Democrats have also done a lousy job with Hispanics, and Hispanics don’t trust either party. Scott could decide to write off the Hispanic vote, and remain a rigid conservative, and let the Hispanics come to him. But writing off the African American vote and the Hispanic vote would be political suicide.

Governor Scott and the Democratic candidate will be forced to seek out the Hispanic vote if they plan to win in 2014.The conversation about immigration must be changed as an economic issue, as opposed to a cultural one. Immigrants cannot be portrayed as inferior, and looking for government handouts, but instead the focus should be on a broken system, and the immigrants looking for a better life for their families.

Both candidates need the Hispanic vote to win in 2014. Whichever candidate develops trust and mutual respect in the Hispanic community, and gets the largest percentage of votes, will probably win in 2014.