The nation's most prominent Latino political engagement group says it's helped more than a quarter million people register to vote this fall, the most in the four presidential campaigns during the group's 15-year history.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic dampening "Get Out the Vote!" campaigns across the country, Voto Latino said Tuesday it is more than halfway to its ambitious goal of registering 500,000 people by Election Day.
Engaging and energizing the steadily growing Hispanic population could be pivotal in November: This will be the first presidential election in which they constitute the largest minority voting bloc — at almost 14 percent of all eligible voters. But there has been some recent angst, especially among prominent Latino Democrats, that their party is not doing enough to maximize support from Latino communities.
Just 40 percent of eligible Latinos cast ballots in the 2018 midterm, the smallest share by far among the four major racial groups. Boosting that percentage could help Joe Biden's efforts to carry the four competitive states where Hispanics as a share of all voters stand out: Texas (30 percent), Arizona (24 percent), Florida (21 percent) and Nevada (20 percent).
But Julián Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development secretary who was the only Latino to run for the Democratic nomination this year, says his party is not doing enough to support and attract Latino voters.
"I think that we could win the battle and lose the war," he told Axios. "We could win in November, but you could see a potential slide of Latino support for Democrats."
Hillary Clinton took 66 percent of the Latino vote nationwide in 2016, but that was a 5-point drop from Barack Obama's showing four years earlier.
"Ensuring that the Latino community is a robust part of this coalition going forward" should be a goal of the party, Castro said, "Or else you're going to see a slide that will benefit the Republicans in the years to come."
With 11 weeks to go, Voto Latino hopes to build on its momentum and continue its digital-first voter outreach efforts. Of those registered so far, 70 percent are younger than 35 and almost three-fifths may now vote in Texas — which is becoming more closely contested at the presidential level than at any time in four decades and has 38 electoral votes, second only to California.
Part of Voto Latino's success comes from its decision to conduct an online-only campaign at the start of the year, months ahead of when other groups were forced to switch to digital due to Covid-19. "We turned the traditional model for voter outreach on its head and it's paying off," said the group's president, María Teresa Kumar.
The organization also pointed to the recent protests against police brutality and racial injustice as evidence young people are more motivated to vote this fall.
For the last presidential election, the group registered only 177,000 people but two years ago grew the number to 202,000.
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 14, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump is traveling to Long Island to tour law enforcement facilities in Nassau County and rally support for local Republican candidates ahead of the upcoming midterm elections
Travel Far Enough, You Meet Yourself
Is it possible that our President has simply not traveled enough?
Born and raised in Queens and attending Fordham University in the Bronx, Donald Trump has no record of traveling outside New York until he was over 20, when he transferred to a college in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. Were his formative years amiss, then, in his learning about other places and other people?
Is his view akin to the famous New Yorker cover by Saul Steinberg, an illustration of the United States with New York City as the epicenter of the country and the Hudson River the border of the known world? We can now at least add Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago to the map of “the realm.”
Our President has now traveled some, but what we recommend is another kind of travel. Not a state-sponsored trip or a venture to scout locations for future Trump Towers. This would be a genuine travel experience, enriching and eye-opening, showcasing other cultures and ways of living.
It will extend far beyond viewing military parades, hobnobbing with such “understanding” world leaders as Kim Jong Un, or taking tea with the King.
WHERE, then, should the President go? As Elon Musk’s Starship spacecraft is not yet ready to take passengers to Mars, perhaps he could explore our own vast country?
Maybe he could travel to “flyover country,” the farming states, where his ying-yanging tariffs and trade restrictions have played havoc with rural economies. Or possibly to California, number one in homeless U. S. citizens, and while there, regale homeless veterans (approximately 32,500 nationwide) with tales of his brave exploits invading and bombing foreign countries.
Or he might tour the Great Lakes, and rename the other four?
WHEN should he go? This will be tough, as he is very busy building his ballroom and renaming bodies of water.
How about a trip in early November, around the midterm elections? Despite the long-discredited accusation of widespread voter fraud, it would be reassuring to know he might be so caught up divvying out ladles of soup in a soup kitchen somewhere that he wouldn’t remember to deploy the military for “election security.”
HOW will he travel? He should definitely not take his Qatari-donated, newly renovated 747, especially after last time, when he had to be smuggled off clandestinely in a catering truck. It’s unlikely any traveling companions, like the Secretary of State or of the Treasury, are going to fall for the ruse a second time. Besides, we may need those people. No more decoys!
Perhaps the President could fly commercially, although this likely would expose him to undue suffering. Without gold bathroom fixtures and maple wood floors, the trip will be no “Luxury Experience.” If only he still had his “Trump Shuttle,” bought with a massive loan he later defaulted on, saying then, “I’m smart. I got out at a good time.”
Considering the potential pitfalls, maybe it’s best the President travel incognito, disguised perhaps as an elderly woman wearing a lot of bronzer.
Wherever, whenever, however: our President needs a vacation.
Moreover, we need a vacation from him.
If the President refuses our travel suggestions, here’s another idea:
Let’s get him a pet! He has never owned a pet. As we know with our children, pets teach essential life lessons: compassion and empathy; they instill a sense of responsibility. There is a well-established connection between those who can care for a pet and those who can care for people.
So, which pet should we choose? A puppy? A kitten? A boa constrictor?
Imagine, the President may even decide he likes having a pet. After all, what is more obedient than a well-trained dog, besides possibly the Cabinet? And what is more docile than a sweet kitten, other than plausibly the Supreme Court?
The President may even become more mellow with a pet afoot and less likely to slap tariffs on our allies, or attempt to annex our neighbors, or bully our Congress. (Realizing, of course, a bully requires active participation from the bullied to maintain his status.)
Maybe we should do both: get the President a pet and devise a travel plan for him. (Do you think we could possibly convince him to leave his phone at home?)
Let’s go for it! After all:
Travel far enough, you meet yourself. (David Mitchell)
And for our President, that would likely be the most profound discovery of all.
Amy Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."