Hispanic Americans Point to Crime, Immigration and the Economy as Key Concerns

Recent reports indicate a dramatic political shift for Hispanic Americans, citing a defection from the left toward the right. While some mainstream media accounts dispute the shift, other national surveys are missing the on-the-ground factors that illustrate why a sizeable portion of Latinos are moving right politically, and the fact that many polls suggest Hispanics are drifting from the Democratic party over economic issues.

One Wall Street Journal poll taken earlier this year found that nonwhite voters were more likely to say high inflation is causing major financial strain in their lives with Hispanic men and Black women reporting the highest proportions.

A July Quinnipiac poll also put President Joe Biden’s approval rating among Hispanics at a record low of 19%, largely over the flagging economy.

But those clear polls get clouded by polling about complex topical issues that contain a range of opinions. In a July 21 piece published by The Atlantic titled “Are Latinos Really Realigning Toward Republicans?” CNN senior political analyst Ronald Brownstein weighs the evidence for and against while placing significant emphasis on cultural issues, and less on economic ones.

Some of those issues for example include both abortion and gun control, issues of which there are varying degrees of opinion. For example, a Harvard-Harris poll conducted after the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade found that 55% of Americans opposed the recent Dobbs decision while a whopping 72% of the same sample still said they supported a ban on abortion up until 15 weeks.

Gun control measures systematically underperform their polling by at least 20% on average, according to pollster David Shor, a veteran of Barack Obama’s 2012 victory. He attributed that phenomenon to how the general public trusts Republicans more on guns and crime, just as it appears to trust Democrats more on race and the environment.

As part of his research, Shor cited Maine’s 2016 background checks ballot measure as an instructive example. That example has a 40-point lead in polling. Its supporters outspent the other side six to one and the measure still lost by three points…..(Excerpt from The Virginia Star)