Democrats remain concerned about Latino support

The Latino vote in the US elections 4:05

(CNN) -

Democrats are concerned about less enthusiasm among Latino voters in the final days of the 2020 campaign. And they warn this could cause the party and its presidential candidate Joe Biden to fall short in key states on Wednesday the elections.

Latino voters make up a large portion of the electorate in a number of crucial states, including two of the major battlefields: Arizona and Florida.

Also Texas, where Biden's campaign is gaining ground, and Nevada, where President Donald Trump is seeking to broaden his support.

Latinos are also a smaller, but important, part of the electorate in other critical areas.

This includes Philadelphia, the largest city in what could be the most important state on the electoral map this year.

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And at a time when polls consistently show Biden with less support among Latinos than Hillary Clinton had four years ago, party agents, elected officials and activists - while giving Biden credit for improving his position since The summer, when performance concerns among Latinos were at a peak - they worry that failing to effectively engage the community could hurt all Democratic candidates running for office in this election.

The role of Latino men

One particular concern: Trump's advances with Latino men.

"Latino men, specifically those ages 50 to 75, are no different than white men in suburban communities," said Philadelphia City Councilmember Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, a member of the campaign's Pennsylvania Latino Leadership Council. of Biden.

“They are macho men and there are parts of Trump's personality that they like.

And we needed to be able to have counter messages about how the family component of who they are is being attacked, "he explained.

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Another concern is Biden's efforts on the ground to promote participation.

The coronavirus pandemic caused the team to avoid the door-to-door campaign during the summer.

This was a security focused decision.

The cost was giving up many of the one-on-one meetings with potential voters that campaigns often don't reach.

The campaign has resumed door-to-door in recent weeks, but some liberal organizers focused on reaching Latino voters worry that the measure has come too late.

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Red alarm in Miami-Dade County

Trump and Biden fight to win over Florida voters 7:16

A red alarm for Democrats comes in Florida's Miami-Dade County, home to a huge Hispanic population where Republicans are outpacing Democrats in driving out those voters.

«My concern is that it increases more.

But if Democrats can close that gap, that could help save them in the rest of the state, "said Florida-based Democratic data analyst Matthew Isbell.

Isbell said Democrats have large groups in Miami's Hispanic community that they could reach out to.

These are people who have voted in one or two of the last three elections.

Republicans, he said, have especially great advantages in Cuban communities.

And it's unclear whether Democratic voters in those areas will show up at the last minute or "maybe feel isolated in the community" and won't vote this year.

Still, Biden's allies say the pandemic is the dominant issue in the 2020 election, and that Trump's mismanagement of the pandemic will draw voters to them.

“It is a disproportionate impact that it has had on Latino communities across the country, but particularly in South Texas.

And Biden's message resonates with what we need in our district: wearing face masks, social distancing rules, and doing the right thing, ”said Texas Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez.

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Biden tries to break through in Florida

In Florida, the Biden campaign and its allies are looking for a new way to break through after years of Republican victories by narrow margins in important state elections.

Compensating for those small but long-lasting deficits has been a focus of both outsider progressive groups and Biden's top representatives.

Florida State Senator José Javier Rodríguez, one of Biden's most prominent sponsors in South Florida, praised the campaign for promoting "culturally competent" messages.

He has been asked to give some of these messages.

Obama seeks to conquer Florida state for Biden 2:28

Trump's rhetoric toward Latinos

In Florida and across the country, Trump has tried to label Biden, a moderate, a "radical socialist" in debt to the party's most left wing.

But Rodríguez believes that the accusation, familiar in an area with so many immigrants from Fidel Castro's Cuba and other Latin American countries shaken by powerful socialists, is beginning to lose steam.

“When you see the president using the federal police as his personal shock troops, when you see them attacking the judiciary, the press, openly undermining democratic institutions to try to promote their own re-election, that is a lot like what the people from my father's generation, and the people who keep coming to Miami, from which they fled, ”said Rodríguez.

"It is ironic that Trump is repeating this crazy rhetoric about Latin American dictators, when that is really his model," he added.

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He also believes that Trump's refusal to acknowledge basic scientific knowledge on climate change, in a state that is routinely and increasingly feeling its worst, could help attract some concerned voters.

Rather than "having the leadership to go out there and explain to people what's going on, talk about what we need to address to address it," he said, Trump is "just wallowing in this kind of weird ideological stuff that you find on the internet.

And then basically just leave it at that.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at an event on Hispanic heritage at Osceola Heritage Park on September 15, 2020 in Kissimmee, Florida.

Reach voters with low propensity to participate

Climate is a top priority for younger voters on other demographic lines.

Getting those voters, especially those whose indecision is not about which candidate to support but about whether to vote, is a priority for outside progressive organizations like the New Florida Majority, which is dedicated to increasing participation from underserved communities.

Andrea Mercado, its CEO, told CNN that the group is targeting voters with a low propensity to participate.

They make and send millions of calls and text messages.

They have also organized live entertainment activities for people waiting in a long line to vote.

This is one of a variety of techniques to encourage and diversify participation.

The group's best message to potential voters, Mercado said, does not focus strictly on what Biden has promised to do if elected.

It focuses on whether they will have a voice and a place in decision-making for years to come.

“We are honest about the fact that we are not voting for a savior.

That no candidate is going to save us, ”Mercado said.

“I think that's maybe one area of ​​difference (in the group's messages).

We know that on many issues we are not voting for a savior, we are voting for our next goal, "he explained.

Possible missed opportunity in Texas

Analyst explains Biden's chances of victory 1:19

Biden's campaign has focused most of its efforts on states that could push the former vice president beyond the 270 electoral vote threshold.

That includes Arizona and Florida.

Texas - a larger state where media space is expensive and there is a largely untapped population of potential voters along the border - would have been a more difficult and expensive state.

So Biden has taken the more limited route of running more targeted ads in some Texas outlets and reaching voters there through the purchase of ads nationwide.

Biden's running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, plans to visit McAllen - part of the Rio Grande Valley with a large Hispanic population, where early voting has been delayed - during a trip to Texas on Friday.

But Biden himself has not scheduled a trip to the state.

Still, Gonzalez and other Democrats lamented what they said was a missed opportunity to treat Texas as a true swing state.

There, too, are various congressional seats and control of the state House at stake.

Some Texas Democrats, including former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, are crying out for Biden to pay a last-minute visit to the state.

Even if it is brief.

González said he wished former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who pumped $ 100 million into Florida, would have spent the same amount in Texas.

"I think it's still worth it, even at this stage," González said.

"A good portion of the voters go out on Election Day and we still have three more days of early voting," he explained.

Effort that requires many resources

Texas Legislator Veronica Escobar, a Democrat representing El Paso, has spent years focused on reaching out to low-propensity voters in her large Latino district.

And he said it is "an effort that requires many resources."

"It doesn't happen by accident and it takes a lot of work," Escobar said.

“They are the people that most campaigns and parties resign because they are not regular and consistent voters, so the thought process is: 'We don't have the resources to target them, let's target the people we know instead. they are going to vote ».

It turns out, he said, that "most people are not going to vote because nobody asks them to."

These are not the people who receive emails.

They are not the people who have the luxury of watching cable news and watching all the commercials.

These are not the people who get a knock on their door, "Escobar said.

Concerns in Philadelphia

Last year, Pennsylvania State Representative Angel Cruz challenged Quiñones-Sánchez in a primary election.

They are political rivals in several respects, but they agree when it comes to evaluating Biden's campaign efforts to reach Latinos in the city: They have fallen short.

“These national campaigns come and bring people from other places.

And then they depend on us to clean up the mess and get everyone, ”Cruz said.

And he added that the infrastructure of the state and local party has been in charge of "taking over."

Cruz estimates that his state's House of Representatives district, 180, is between 60% and 70% Latino and tends to be older.

He hopes that many voters there, especially those who recently came from Puerto Rico, will choose to vote in person on Election Day.

The desire to defeat Trump, he said, is there, but a connection from the campaign to the community has been lacking.

In this Sept. 14, 2020 photo, President Donald Trump arrives to participate in a Latino Coalition for Trump panel discussion at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix.

When asked if he expressed those concerns to the campaign, Cruz told CNN that he did, but did not get a clear answer.

"I'm still waiting," he said.

Quiñones-Sánchez said he is concerned that if Biden falls short in Pennsylvania, Latinos will become the scapegoat.

"I don't want to carry that weight, and I don't want my community to carry it," said Quiñones-Sánchez.

“And we've seen in the past that these campaigns do the same, and then they blame the African-American community here and the Latino community there.

And I don't want to be in that space, "he said.

Democrats' confidence increases in some states

Undecided states are the most affected by covid-19 2:37

Fears about the ability of Democrats to woo and woo Latino voters in Arizona reached a high point in early 2020. At that time some Democratic agents in the longtime Republican stronghold said they believed Trump was heading toward a new conquest of Arizona.

But then the coronavirus pandemic hit.

And it overshadowed everything the Trump administration has done, especially considering that the virus disproportionately affected Latino households.

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"There was concern earlier this year," said Steven Slugocki, chairman of the Maricopa County Democrats, where 31% of the population is Latino.

But with the pandemic, the choice was reoriented, especially during the summer, when Maricopa became a hotbed for the virus.

To date, the county has had more than 155,000 total cases and more than 3,500 deaths.

Slugocki said Biden's campaign has done "a great job since then to make sure they were reaching out to all communities" since the pandemic started.

"The pandemic has changed the nature of elections," said Biden pollster Matt Barreto.

"And from our perspective, we're pushing harder as a result of that, saying, 'ok, let's not let some of those votes that you would normally expect us to knock on your door… let's not let them go to waste.'

This is why we continue to organize and prepare for a large turnout on Election Day, "he added.

Announcement about separated families

On Thursday, Biden's campaign released a new ad highlighting his plan to sign a decree that seeks to reunite children separated from their families at the border.

Biden's campaign advisor Cristobal Alex told reporters that the issue would be a "top priority" for Biden if he wins.

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"This is an issue that has had a profound impact on the vice president," Alex said.

"The centerpiece and central focus of Joe Biden's immigration policy is family unification," he said.

And he described the handling of the situation by the administration as "criminal."

'Last push' by Democrats to reach Latinos

Lorella Praeli, president of Community Change Action and Clinton's 2016 National Latino Vote Director, acknowledged that Biden's campaign was slow earlier this year to reach Latino voters.

But, Praeli said, their campaign has addressed those issues because they know that "there is no path to the White House without Latinx and black voters."

"His choices and investments are remarkable," said Praeli.

"They are making an offensive across the board to reach, persuade and mobilize Latinx voters," he added.

And he cited a staff surge, a paid media "blitz" and the use of community influencers, including artists, to connect with voters.

"Now we are in the last push and we know that Latinx voters turn out in large numbers on Election Day," he said.

Trump and his representatives have said they expect historic support from Latino voters in next week's election.

His campaign says he generated a huge lead in voter contacts, including 7.1 million contacts in Arizona.

Senior Advisor Jason Miller recently touted new spending on Spanish-language radio spots in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area.

"Latino voters know that, unlike Joe Biden, whose only achievement in 47 years in office has been enriching himself and his family, when President Trump makes a promise, he will keep it," said Samantha Zager, spokeswoman for the Trump campaign.

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