A Quinnipiac University national poll just handed Democrats some very bad news.
For years, Democrats could count on the loyalty of a large majority of Hispanic voters. But this group has been steadily turning away from President Joe Biden in big numbers.
The survey, released Wednesday, asked 1,462 American adults if they approve or disapprove of Biden’s job performance. Just 32 percent of Hispanic voters approved, compared with a whopping 54 percent who disapproved. Fourteen percent were undecided.
The poll, taken March 24-28, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
No doubt, Democrats will dismiss this poll as an outlier, but they will do so at their peril. Pollsters across the political spectrum have identified the Latino shift away from the Democratic Party. What began as a gradual trend during the presidency of Donald Trump has accelerated with each passing month of Biden’s administration.
Overall, just 36 percent of those surveyed approved of Biden’s handling of the presidency, 55 percent disapproved and 10 percent were unsure. Responses from Hispanic voters are nearly identical to those of the general population which suggests they share many of the same concerns.
This blending of sentiment is apparent throughout the survey results.
Participants were asked if they approved of Biden’s handling of the economy. Overall, 34 percent of respondents approved, 58 disapproved and 8 percent were undecided. Among Hispanics, 29 percent approved, 56 percent disapproved and 15 percent were undecided.
Another question asked what respondents considered to be the “most urgent issue facing the country today.” The choices were: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19, inflation, unemployment, climate change, health care, racial inequality, immigration, election laws, the Supreme Court, or crime.”
The top three concerns overall were inflation (30 percent), Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (14 percent) and immigration (9 percent).
Among Hispanics they were inflation (31 percent), Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (12 percent) and immigration (12 percent).
It might be news to Biden administration officials that Hispanics are just as concerned about the border crisis as other Americans — maybe even more so.
Although the starting point might differ among various pollsters, the size of the shifts in opinion remains the same.
For example, a Univision poll conducted in February found that support for Biden among Hispanics had fallen by 21 points over the previous year from 76 percent to 55 percent. Disapproval increased from 24 percent to 43 percent.
The Spanish-language network cited inflation and pessimism about the future for the drop.
As mentioned earlier, Hispanics began trending toward the Republican Party during the Trump administration. Trump’s support among Hispanics was 8 points higher in 2020 than it had been in 2016, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Citing a study conducted by Equis Labs, the outlet reported: “Shifts in some parts of the country were larger. In its analysis of the 2020 electorate, Equis Labs, which studies the Latino electorate, found swings toward the GOP of 20 points in parts of Florida’s Miami-Dade County; of 12 points in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas; and double-digit swings in parts of the Northeast. In South Florida, the shift was big enough to flip two congressional seats to the GOP, the firm concluded.”
The Democrats’ embrace of identity politics blinds them to the fact that as time goes on and immigrants become more assimilated into the culture, their concerns will begin to mirror those of other Americans.
Hispanics generally share many of the same values as America’s conservatives. They tend to oppose abortion and prioritize religion and family. They worry about inflation, crime and the education of their children.
So the Democrats’ strategy of opening our southern border to flood the country with illegal immigrants might not turn out to be quite the advantage they had envisioned.
In 2002, liberal journalists Ruy Teixeira and John Judis published a widely read book titled “The Emerging Democratic Majority.” They predicted that the growing diversity in the U.S. population would lead to Democratic dominance for years to come.
Teixeira and Judis were right about the browning of America. By 2045-50, whites likely will comprise less than 50 percent of the population.
However, they were wrong to declare this automatically meant Democratic dominance. That assumed that most Hispanics would remain loyal to the party. (Teixeira explained the new dynamics in an Aug. 31 article on Substack.)
The whole idea behind the party’s lax border policies was/is to import future Democratic voters in large numbers. If these people are turning toward Republicans, and at such a rapid pace, this is a major problem for Democrats.
After taking a look at the Quinnipiac poll, the Washington Examiner’s David Freddoso wrote: “¡Vamos, Brandon!”
Yes!
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
