Angelo Falcón, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy, republished an opinion piece from the Los Angeles Times about how the Republican party seems to be a better place for Latinos to succeed.
He wrote, “Despite strong Latino voter loyalty to the Democratic Party, a recurring complaint concerns that party’s taking this part of the electorate for granted. In the article below, the Democrats’ lack of investment in the development of Latino political leadership is discussed in comparison to the Republican Party. This could also explain to some degree the so-called political success of Cuban-Americans where, for example, the Republicans are playing a disproportionate role in recruiting and promoting Cuban-Americans for the US Senate.”
In her opinion column, Alana Semuels wrote,”Democrats might have selected the keynote speaker at their convention to rally Latino voters, but the pick also illuminated the fact that as far as young Latino politicians go, the party doesn’t have a very deep bench.”
Semuels also said, “Compare that to the long list of nationally prominent Republican Latinos: Florida senator and potential Romney running mate Marco Rubio; Republican Latino governors Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada; and Ted Cruz, a Latino Republican in Texas who is favored Tuesday to win a GOP runoff for a U.S. Senate seat. (The runoff winner also would be favored in the general election.) ”
She also reported this: “Democrats in California and Texas and Arizona haven’t been able to launch a statewide candidate who has been successful,” said Sylvia Manzano, an analyst with Latino Decisions. “I think that really is unexpected and certainly not for a lack of talent.”
