Still, Gingrich is making a strong bid for the Latino vote, and Republican strategists say his mastery of Latino issues coupled with his moderate tone on immigration could give him an edge over Romney.
Hispanics make up about 13 percent of Florida’s overall electorate and about 11 percent of registered GOP voters.
New ad in Florida from Winning Our Future, a super PAC supporting former House speaker Newt Gingrich, attacks former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. (Jan. 24)
GOP PRIMARY TRACKER: The race for delegates
If Gingrich performs well in this group, it could blow a hole in a key argument promoted by Romney’s campaign that he is the best Republican to take on Obama in the fall.
Four years ago, Hispanics broke heavily for Obama, but polls show their support for the president has softened. While most say they plan to vote for him again this year, at least some could be open to the right Republican — someone who, like George W. Bush in 2000, can articulate the conservative message in a way that appears sensitive and inclusive toward Hispanics.
“I have to say that right now that Speaker Gingrich has an edge because he’s basically said we have to find a middle road,” said Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. “Romney on the other hand — and to me this is mind boggling — used very ugly rhetoric. . . . And policywise, the idea the undocumented, they all have to go home, that’s impossible.”
Immigration does not rank as the top issue for most Latinos, particularly in Florida, because Cubans have special rights to enter the country as refugees and Puerto Ricans are already citizens. But even these voters have sometimes bristled at the tone of Republican candidates toward illegal immigrants.
Romney has adopted some of the harshest rhetoric, asserting that welfare serves as a “magnet” for illegal border-crossers and attacking the Dream Act, which would have offered a path to citizenship for students and service members brought to the country illegally as children.
Still, he has his own outreach effort. Among the ads on steady rotation in Florida is one featuring one of his sons, Craig, speaking fluent Spanish. And he tried to make it clear in the debate that he supports the aspect of the Dream Act that would ease the path to citizenship for military members.
He also has support from leaders in the Cuban American community, including GOP Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart and former representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
“I think Romney will get the bulk of the Hispanic vote,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “I know that the media loves to highlight immigration as if the Latino vote is all about immigration. But we’re about small businesses and opportunities for young families and homeownership.”
Gingrich, however, has long been viewed as an ally to conservative-minded Latinos, particularly Cuban Americans, and has staked out a hard-line position on U.S.-Cuba relations. In Congress, he was a vocal advocate of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which strengthened the U.S. embargo on Cuba, and supported the establishment of Radio Marti, which transmits U.S. government-sanctioned programming to Cuba.
Last year, Gingrich’s communications company started The Americano, a conservative news and opinion Web site aimed at Hispanic conservatives. As part of his presidential campaign, he held Hispanic business roundtable events in Iowa and New Hampshire and reached out to Latino voters in South Carolina.
“He speaks with a great breadth of knowledge and authority and has a great record to show for it,” said Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist in Florida and adviser to former presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman (R). “He enjoys being out and campaigning in the Hispanic area. He enjoys the cafecito. He enjoys the Cuban radio. He revels in it.”
Polling analyst Scott Clement and staff writers Rosalind S. Helderman and Peter Wallsten contributed to this report.
Campaign 2012 tools
The Post Most: PoliticsMost-viewed stories, videos and galleries int he past two hours
Featured Blogs & Columns
Loading...
Comments