At the end of the day, Hispanic voters do not behave as a monolith. They behave, as a group, like a somewhat typical swing voter. In some national elections, they’ll give 55% of their vote to Republicans, and in other elections, they’ll vote straight Dem. Neither party has figured out how to appeal to Hispanic voters with any consistency. But I’ll give the Biden-Harris campaign some credit: they’ve really been putting some effort into their appeals, and they’ve been trying to work out the complex puzzle of “the Latin vote.” Politico just did a great piece about all of this.
In recent months, the Biden-Harris campaign has used high-profile surrogates from the Latin-American community, and they’ve picked up some big endorsements, like Eva Longoria, Luis Fonsi and Ricky Martin. This will probably help: Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez have now endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket with a new IG video, which already has millions of likes and views. Jennifer has been a long-time Democratic Party supporter, but it’s still really nice to see these two power couples – J-Rod and Joe & Jill – chat with each other.
The video works as a microcosm of how men and women are approaching this election differently – I loved Jennifer coming in and talking, right off the bat, about what children are being taught about hate and prejudice from this administration. A-Rod is more like “the economy, the pandemic.” All points are valid. They got 1.5 million views within five hours of posting this. People really do give a sh-t about these endorsements, especially when it’s J.Lo and A-Rod.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
I am so glad they are doing this. Save yourselves, America. We Brits are too far gone.
I’m really glad, too. Too many minorities inexplicably support Trump and if this helps sway some people, yay.
I’m also happy to imagine the MAGAs being so mad. They already have said The Rock “ruined his career” by endorsing Biden, lol.
And hang in there, Duchess.
I’m very glad too. I’m not their biggest fan but we need all hands on deck and they have the influence and money to sway some voters. So, well done.
So glad they did this..they both have huge social media followings and are Miami residents.
I hope this helps in Florida which starts early voting I believe on Tuesday. The Latino population
Could really help turn Florida blue. Also I think J lo discussing children and prejudice while A rod discussing the economy was strategic on their part. This is a power couple that doesn’t mess around they definitely talked this out before they went on camera
I can only say thank you………every vote counts; we have the senate races to consider as well
There’s no complexity to the Latin vote. White Latinos vote like White Americans (I.e. Republican). Non-White Latinos vote primarily democrat.
Yup!!!
Eh, as a whiter Latino, and from what I see, I really think it depends more on the religion. I have honestly seen all kinds of Latinos vote strictly on the lines of abortion, regardless of how it directly hurts them, never mind about other human rights. . It’s so sad. I’m so glad more Latinos are speaking up and I hope they get the message.
This is taking a complex issue & simplifying it, but it’s not that easy. Historically, over half of Latinos in the US have not voted in presidential elections, with this year hopefully being different as more are registering. Let’s think about voter suppression as well here.
Also, education is the biggest factor in how white people vote: “According to exit polls, 61 percent of non-college-educated white voters cast their ballots for Republicans while just 45 percent of college-educated white voters did so. Meanwhile 53 percent of college-educated white voters cast their votes for Democrats compared with 37 percent of those without a degree.” (The Atlantic)
I like how A Rod included African Americans along with Latinos. This hatred has a ripple affect and it needs to stop. I hope their message is heard and resonates with many voters. Time to vote Trump out.
Good for them. I hope their words will sway voters.
Oh god I hope it helps. Lopez has a huge following it seems (him I have no idea, don’t know him) so this could make a difference.
The problem with the minorities voting Trump really is the religious mindset against abortion, gay/trans rights etc. My friend from Marfa (a Chicano) Tells me a lot of people around him from the same ethnic background are happy to vote Trump because they “have the same values”. Forgetting for a moment that Trump has no values (difficult I know), this still speaks volumes to the great dissent of the US society where religion is still such a huge part of people’s lives and identities unlike other countries in Europe. (Although that is changing too – after the dissent of the wars and the communist menace there is no more social “glue” to stick us together so we go back to our core – outdated IMO – values of yore.)
Yup. It’s coming down to abortion and undocumented immigration, from what I see. Those that vote for him, that’s all they hear. Never mind how they and their families are directly harmed by this administration, never mind how our country is, those are the issues that they vote on. As a Latina, it’s so frustrating. I do see hope in some of the younger generations, and I think those voices will someday drown out the Catholic votes.
I went to watch the video on insta, and literally, like all of the comments were negative and pro trump. feeling deflated and depressed now. I’m sick with worry over this election and so tired of it
Manda, I wholeheartedly feel your pain. I have really developed a lot of anxiety over this upcoming election. I just don’t know what I’m going to do if he is elected for another term. I feel like I’ve been holding my breath for four years and I am so worried our country truly has lost its humanity and will not be able to pull itself back together. And don’t get me started with these idiots and not wearing masks and diminishing covid 19. I hope our country can recover.
I just don’t understand how so many people are ok with this! I worry too that we won’t ever be the same, although I’ve also been learning we were never quite as good as I thought we were
Those are trolls and MAGAts lashing out trying to bully and intimidate. JLo and ARod DGAF about them and neither should you. Just don’t read the comments.
The people that are pro Biden don’t need to comment – if social media has shown us anything- it’s that a lot of the trolls are just trying to stir sh*t up TO MAKE YOU MAD. TO OWN SPACE IN YOUR HEAD. But like, get a job troll.
Also, after The Rock endorsed Biden
The MAGAts freaked out all over the comments- then guess what? The Rock crosses over to 200m followers- so he GAINED FOLLOWERS
thank you 🙂
I do not know this 100% but I am pretty sure that a lot of those negative comments come from bought and paid for tools and bots. We know Putin is waring against the US and Europe via a very, very,very aggressive cyberwar. He has special cyber agents that work solely on the cyber war. Which includes spreading disinformation, and also the active attacking of any pro-Biden celebrity, authoritive figure etc. The bigger a star u are, the greater the online attack. They want it to appear as though Trump is the Love/Drug of the people and that there are “dire consequences ” for endorsing Biden. But The Rock did NOT loose Millions of followers. He gained a ton instead. Even if the comments on his endorsement posts suggested otherwise. I’m not saying all of the haters are Russian or Kushner funded tools and bots, but many. More than half of them. Kushner learned to cheat, manipulate, etc. not only from hiw father+Trump, but he had Putin as a teacher as well. He surely has something resembling a troll farm. Even if it’s not directly linked to him.
If I had tried to guess I would have guessed that A-Rod was a Trump supporter. I actually feel a little guilty for misjudging him.
Same
Great video. If these endorsements sway even 1% of people who are undecided or were leaning Trump, then they’ll make a difference.
or even just 550 votes in Florida (calling back to the gap between Gore and Bush before the recount was stopped)
If the Latino population votes for Trump, that’s on them – one one else can take the blame.
Jlo has always struck me as apathetic. The only time I recall her saying anything “political” was when she sided with “all lives matter” only to get called out for happily benefiting from black and blatino culture only to retreat to white hispanic-hood when things got serious.
Good for her if she’s conspicuously using her voice now. But as I did with Taylor, Imma wait and see whether she’s now dedicated to using her platform productively or whether this is PR to get on the right side of history before it’s too late.
Yeah white Latinos were pretty pissed about this. I saw so many MAGA and “thank you for not being biased like ARod and JLo” comments on Sofia Vergara’s post about voting. The difficult part about trying to appeal to Latinx folks is that we definitely are not a monolith and are made up of different races, experiences, religions, etc. With the exception of Latinos in the US, most folks from Latin America have been taught to discuss and think about identity from a nationalistic perspective which is why discussing race in a lot of Latin American households is complicated AF. Mind you, this is an overly simplified explanation. So while as others have mentioned, religion plays huge part as does the conservative messaging of spanish media, race and the historical trajectory of different Latinx groups in the US does play a large role in it. As someone else mentioned, there is a reason why a lot of white Cubans tend to vote republican.
The Latinx vote as a whole may not behave as a monolithic voting block, but the older Cuban population in Florida is consistently die-hard Republican. I doubt any of them will be touched by this endorsement. My SIL’s parents can’t WAIT for the ACA to be struck down. It honestly doesn’t occur to them that she’s already had cervical cancer and a hysterectomy as a result, and if she gets cancer again her insurance will do everything they can to exclude her on the basis of pre-existing condition. The mind boggles at people’s willingness to vote against their own interests.
Yep these trends among certain groups within the Latinx community are unfortunately not surprising. Prior to the addition of “Hispanic” on the census, Cubans and Mexicans were labeled as “white” and a lot of Cubans, especially the Fidel hating ones, took a lot of pride in that. The fact that Cubans, at that time, did not have the same pathway to citizenship issues that other Latinx folks had endeared them more to Republicans.