Courting Latino Voters

This video talks about the 9.3 million registered, Latino voters in the United States and what candidates for the upcoming election need to do in order to win their vote. The first point was that people need to realize that there are differences between people who are Cuban, Peruvian, Mexican, ect. In the United States, people tend to lump them all together. However, the traditions, living conditions along with many other things are very different in Peru than they are in Cuba or any other Latin country. The traditions and life experiences are what makes every single person different, regardless of race. The one similarity that most people of Latino decent is that they speak Spanish. This means that the candidates should, and have, put out campaign ads in Spanish as well as in English.

In these ads, the candidates must talk about issues that are important to people. This video claims that education opportunities, homeownership, and healthcare are among the most important issues that Latino people care about. While interviewing people, it was said that people are losing jobs which in turn causes them to have to move or be unable to pay rent. This means that homelessness and multiple families living together in small homes barely large enough for one small family. Another person who was interviewed stated that educational opportunities were very important to him, but he feels as though the U.S. educational system is falling behind. Also, many Latinos are opposed to an open door policy. This means that immigration is a big issue as well. As we have talked about in class, there are many Mexican-Americans who don't agree with illegal immigrants being here in the United States. They feel as though these illegal immigrants should have to go through the same process they had to in order to become a citizen. It is a very controversial subject that affects all of the United States, not just the Latino community.