The Hispanic Vote, Essay Example

The 2012 US presidential election took place in November 2012, and it was the 57th presidential election since the nation’s independence. President Barrack Obama was the democratic nominee while Mitt Romney was the republican nominee. Even though, there were other nominees contesting for the presidential seat the two were the dominant aspirants in the elections. The result was an Obama win over his Republican challenger Mitt Romney who although he conceded defeat he had deep thoughts about President Obama’s handling of the economy (Cillizza and Blake 1). This shows that the problem of economic growth took the centre stage of politics, and this led to each man offering different policies to cure what ails the American weak economy. Obama won by convincing voters to stick with him even as he tries to reignite strong economic growth by pledging to raise taxes on the wealthy (Cillizza and Blake 1). There was a hot contest for the votes from the state of Ohio and as projected by the TV networks, Obama triumphant, which was a crucial step in the fight for the 270 electoral votes that were a requirement of clinching the White House. However, O0bama had narrow wins in Ohio, Wisconsin, Lowa, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire, which are states that Romney had contested.

It is certain that the policies each of the presidential aspirants held enabled the pull of voters to their side. In as much as a considerable portion of the campaign focused on how to reignite the economy, there are small contributors too that determined the outcome of the elections. President Obama worked against deportation of Hispanics, and on top of this, he made the announcement allowing the young Hispanics request relief write application for work visas. He also campaigned for restoration of economic security to all Americans, which could only be possible through the provision of fair shot and opportunity to succeed for everyone. To ensure this worked the president was to work with the majority of the Americans who were unfortunate though forming a significant fraction of the US population among whom were the “44 percent of SNAP household heads reported their race/ ethnicity as Hispanic or African American” (Edsall 15). 15.1 percent of the US population lived in poverty as of 2010 the highest level ever reached since 1993 and a rise from 11.3 in 2000. Blacks topped the list at 27.4 as a community with the highest rates of poverty, with Hispanics following closely at 27.4 and whites at a distant 13% (Edsall 15). This shows that the non-white Americans form the largest percentage of unfortunate households. Therefore, the Obama policies starting from the affordable health care, education, work visa allocation and restoration of basic economic security attracted many nonwhites Hispanics included.

Obama’s reelection, in part, to the Latino voters who voted in prodigious numbers, in support of Obama, and she asserts this win largely to the immigration act that was against deportation of illegal immigrants (Latino voters in election 1). Immigration factor was the determining factor in the decision making process of many Latino voters who despite the enacting many of the policies they believed that President Obama needed their votes to continue with the course (Ted Cruz on Latino vote 1)

Mitt Romney’s failure was because of his claim that 47 % of Americans relied on the government and wanted to stay that way (Ted Cruz on Latino vote 1). Many may argue whether it is a true or false statement, but the projections of the time had some hidden facts behind them. Mitt Romney’s policy on reigniting the economy dwelt on increasing cross boarder taxes and the overall taxes of the Americans, which did not auger well with most non-white population given the imbalances that exist in the nation. This is because, in 2010, the U.S. Census reported “15.1 percent of the population was living in poverty, the highest level since 1993 and up from 11.3 percent in 200. The poverty rate for whites was 13 percent; for black, 27.4 percent; and for Hispanics, 26.8 percent” (Edsall 15). This indicated the importance the aspirants’ vested on their voters through their policies, and increasing taxes meant that the poor would continue being poor as the rich become wealthier than before, and just for clarity the non whites would become poorer.  This republican opposition to taxes and revenue raising proposals sharpened the divide between the party and the government-dependent poor, majority of whom were nonwhite Americans whom Edsall(38) asserts that their population is on a steady increase, and have a profound consequence on the party system and the US electoral process.

Meanwhile, as Obama remained firm with his campaign against deportation of illegal immigrants, Mitt Romney opposed the proposal during the GOP primary and called for self-deportation (Ted Cruz on Latino vote, 1). This rubbed the immigration activists and Latino groups in general the amateurish way, which caused Romney a terrific deal in his elections.  This is because his position locked him in a corner that everyone even the conservative republicans could not be fooled. According to Cillizza and Blake (2012), the American electorate has increasingly become diverse, and the fact that Mitt Romney’s policies did not work in line with non-whites expectations was his own undoing in the US presidential elections. The 47% Mitt Romney was referring to were the poor whom he reiterated that he would not worry about them. Instead, he asked them take a personal responsibility and care for their lives. These were unpopular remarks given the fact that the Hispanic electorates had grown to become a crucial part of the democratic base (Edsall 84).

The 2012 US presidential campaign was an extremely divided poll with a majority of whites supporting Mitt Romney and the rest going for President Obama. The defiance of the republicans on the warnings of demographers and political consultants made them fail to make gains among minority voters (Edsall 35). Therefore, by president Obama addressing the issues that mostly affected nonwhite lives were a significant boost to his campaign. This follows the assertion that most polling showed that Latino voters not only felt aligned to president Obama because of the immigration, jobs and economy issues, but the fact the democrats cared about getting their votes (Latino voters in election, 1). For instance, in every state that impremedia polled, and Latino decisions, immigration stood as the major factor in the decision making process where most of them supported president Obama on the issue. This shows how President Obama became popular among the Hispanics, an American community that continues to a long-term political effect in America. According to Cillizza and Blake (1) President Obama’s decision to stop deportation of young illegal immigrants 96 hrs to the Election Day had an enormous impact on the 2012 election. This worked against the republicans who for long had enjoyed the Hispanic support until some years back when the support stated declining. The support reduced to 31% in 2008 while it increased for the democrats to 67% in 2008. In case,  the Hispanics become a solid voting block for the democrats just as the Black Americans have been it spells doom for the Republicans who dream to become a majority party in the country. This is because as the Hispanic population continues to grow and their consequent citizenship status, the white population which supports the republican party continues to shrink. If the 2012 elections are anything to go by, then it is time the republicans go back to the drawing board to ensure the achievement of their dream as the majority party. President Obama lost to MITT Romney on the white electorate by a margin of 19%, a seven percent rise from the 2008 elections. Meanwhile, Hispanic supporters increased their support for President Obama who won the Hispanic vote by 44%, which was an 8% increase from the 2008 elections. For instance, in Colorado, president Obama gained 74% of the Hispanic vote, which was an increase from the 61% of 2008 (Cillizza and Blake, 1). The same happened in Florida where he won 60% of the Hispanic vote, which was an increase from the 2008 57%. President Obama also did well with women from whom he received 55% women votes, and although voters from the ages of 18 to 29 favored the president, but less so than in 2008, he made significant gains among the youth of Florida and Arizona states. Edsall (41) asserts this conquer to the sharing of the economic vulnerability in the groups which set them apart from the rest of the population.

It is certain that the 2012 US presidential election was quite divisive as the whites took their support to Mitt Romney and the nonwhites to president Obama. However, the fascinating statistic was the Hispanic vote that seemed to determine the result. This is because President Obama had policies that favored Hispanic interests compared to his opponent Romney. Another reason was the increasing population of the Hispanics that turned out in large numbers to vote for policies that were friendly to them in favor of president Obama. Therefore, the Hispanic vote was decisive of the presidential results majorly because of the policies that the presidential candidates stood for during their campaigns and what president Obama had done so far.

Works cited

Cilliza Chris and Blake Aaron. Why Republicans can’t write off Hispanics. 2012. Web. 6 December 2012. Available at: <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/why-republicans-cant-write-off-hispanics/2012/06/18/gJQADHSKmV_blog.html>

Edsall, Thomas. The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics. New York, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012. Print.

Foley, Elise. Latino voters in election 2012 help sweep obama to reelection. 2012. Web. 6 December 2012. Available at: <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/latino-voters-election-2012_n_2085922.html>

Foley, Elise. Ted Cruz on Latino vote: Romney lost because of ‘47 percent’.Huffington Post. 2012. 6 December 2012. Available at: <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/29/ted-cruz-latino-vote-47-percent_n_2215419.html>