Listen to the audio version of the article
A few tens of thousands of votes will decide who it will be the next president of the United States. And the votes that will make the difference could be those of Latinos, of voters with Hispanic origins: even in contested Western states such as Arizona and Nevada, even in the largest swing state, Pennsylvania. While African Americans could deliver victory to Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump in a state like Wisconsin, potentially also decisive for the White House.
Trump campaigning in Miami: insults and the economy
Trump was warmly welcomed on Tuesday 22 October by large Latino businessmen in Doral, near Miami. “I am the only candidate who can bring prosperity back to America”, repeated the former president with a simple and direct message that found a great response in a friendly audience, which has always moved towards the right. In his long speech, speaking off the cuff, he insulted Harris several times: “We don’t need – he said – another person with such a limited IQ in the White House.” And he relaunched propaganda, without foundation, against the Democrats who “have filled the country with dangerous immigrants and terrorists”.
But Trump also called together, from Florida, Hispanics from all over the country, focusing on traditional family values and even more on economic aspects: «With me your wages had improved, you had a better job and you could afford a good home, then – he declared – Joe Biden’s administration, with high inflation, destroyed everything”.
There are more than 36 million potential Latino voters, equal to 15% of the total number of those entitled to vote. And the Republican campaign is trying to gain space in this community which in the United States is traditionally closer to the Democrats, but is growing rapidly and could change orientation, especially in its younger part.
Three proposals from Kamala Harris: apprenticeships, public positions and loans
Ethnic belonging obviously mixes with political ideas, social issues and people’s economic difficulties. From Washington, in a long interview broadcast on Telemundo, Vice President Harris proposed an economic program focused on the needs of the Latino community. There are three main measures to “stand alongside – said Harris – those who want to work and do business”: support for regular apprenticeships to double the current contracts in four years up to 1.2 million contracts; easier access to some public jobs, with the elimination of the degree requirement; subsidized loans for small businesses. “We are very confident these policies can have a significant impact, as they did in the focus groups we analyzed,” explains Matt Barreto, a polling expert for the Harris campaign. “These are measures – he adds – that speak in particular to Latin American men who wish to be successful and realize the American dream.”
