More than a million Puerto Ricans — about 5 percent of Florida's population — already call the state home, and given the outrage many feel over President Donald Trump's handling of the storm, political observers say this voting bloc could loosen the Republican Party's hold on this battleground state. [More]Gee, now there's a surprise.
Huh-- an argument I don't immediately discount from HuffPo...
I guess every state's situation is a little different. As the article mentions, the Puerto Rican diaspora votes mostly Democratic. More Puerto Ricans moving to Florida along the I-4 corridor makes the state more purple than red. Another other factor the article doesn't mention is South Florida's shift in voting patterns among Cuban Americans. The old guard refugees voted staunchly Republican. They've already tasted the loss of a country to Leftists and want no part of them. But they're passing from the scene and being replaced by their children and grandchildren that have never set foot on Cuban soil. This younger Cuban set is trending more Democratic in their voting. The wild card is the Venezuelan immigrants. They too have lost their country to a Leftist. Most of them haven't been here long enough to be citizens. But they're already in competition with the Cubans for dominance economically. We'll just have to wait and see how all this shakes out politically.
ReplyDeleteAs for how this all affects gun rights, one often has to wait for an open position at Trail Glades Range, a Miami-Dade County park. Once you do get a position, you quickly notice that the conversations going on around you are in Spanish. I can't place their country of origin by their accents. I can't tell if they vote Democratic or Republican. But I can tell they like their guns.
That qualifies as anecdote/isolated example.
ReplyDelete"That qualifies as anecdote/isolated example."
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment of my comment. But I though it worthwhile to point out that not all Hispanics, not even all immigrant Hispanics, perhaps not even all illegal immigrant Hispanics, are cut from the same cloth.
On the other hand, both the Cubans and Venezuelans have a proven record of leaving their country instead of fighting for it after they let it get to be past saving. Why would we think they would do any different here?