Group urges tactical change to win back Latinos

Politico

2 days ago

What up, Recast fam. On today's agenda:
FIRST IN THE RECAST — Campeones PAC blasted Democratic donors today for not doing enough to stem the rightward shift of Hispanic voters, particularly in the South and Southwestern regions of the U.S.
'We must find a way to learn from the mistakes of the past cycle in order to reach Latino men and women who we cannot afford to continue losing support from,' the group wrote in a memo. 'To do this we will utilize narratives focused on the economy to galvanize our community against the Republicans who are destroying economic opportunity for our communities.'
Among the action items called for in the memo is ending the 'over-reliance' on polling and analytics that the PAC said has proven ineffective in reaching these targeted communities. Democrats, the memo said, need to increase their focus on younger Latinos under 30 who are more likely to rent, more tech savvy, and more likely to change jobs with regularity.
Reached for comment, Chuck Rocha — who launched Campeones PAC along with former Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) earlier this year — declined to say how many donors the memo was sent to but said it reached across 'the Democratic donor diaspora … so from everyone from George Soros to Henry R. Muñoz,' name-checking some of the biggest donors in the Democratic Party.
Was The Recast forwarded to you by a friend? Don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter here.
You'll get a weekly breakdown of how race and identity are the DNA of American politics and policy.
'We're sending out a siren,' Rocha told The Recast. 'We have to fix this now or the Democratic Party's gonna be the minority forever, because without the Latino vote, you can't win Arizona, Nevada, Texas.'
Not everyone agrees that Campeones has its focus in the right area to win back Latinos.
'If we are going to really be focused on reaching Latinos, let's look at the entire country and not just a segment,' said a longtime Hispanic Democratic strategist who worked on the Kamala Harris presidential campaign. The strategist was granted anonymity to discuss their critiques of the memo. 'This is how we lose — in our silos, with culturally relevant perspectives that only target some of the Latino population.'
The strategist continued: 'We lose because no one is listening to each other. Recycled strategies won't get us a win anytime soon.'
Rocha pushed back, saying his strategy is focused on winning back first- and second-generation Latinos in the South and Southwest but that it can apply to other regions in some cases.
'Let me eat this elephant one bite at a time,' he said.
The memo comes amid apparent shifts in Latino perceptions of Donald Trump's first months back in the White House.
Latino voters shifted dramatically to Trump in last fall's elections, but a new survey shows his support has cratered. According to a poll from Global Strategy Group and commissioned by Somos Votantes, a Democratic-leaning group that focuses on Latinos, Trump's approval from February to May dropped 14 points among Latino independents, from 43 percent to 29 percent. Among Latinos overall, the drop was less muted — it fell by just 4 percentage points during that same February-to-May time frame.
We'll keep tabs on this issue and see how things change in the coming months.
All the best,The Recast Team
MOORE'S MEA CULPA
Wes Moore is facing new questions about his backstory.
The first-term Maryland governor took steps to elevate his national profile at South Carolina Democrats' Blue Palmetto Dinner over the weekend. His keynote address was well-received by the state's party insiders Friday as he exhorted Democrats to become 'the party of action' and take a page out of Trump's playbook. '[It would] be foolish not to learn from his impatience' when enacting their policy agenda when the party returns to power, Moore told the sold-out event.
But the governor, who is among the brightest up-and-comers in Democratic politics, made an unforced error when he sought to play up his familial connection to the state. He described his late grandfather, whom he said was born in Charleston, as having 'a deep Jamaican accent his entire life, but had South Carolinian grit in his bones.' But public records indicate Moore's grandfather was born some 200 miles away — in a part of the state that's culturally and politically very different from Charleston.
'I was always told by my mother that my grandfather was born in Charleston, South Carolina. However, this past weekend I was made aware that he was actually born in Greenville County, South Carolina,' Moore said in a statement to The Recast on Monday. 'While this was what was told to me, after doing my due diligence, I can confirm that the information is true.'
His office said he learned of the discrepancy in family lore during a private event in Columbia the following day. That event was a gathering hosted at the Columbia-area home of Democratic fundraiser Rick Wade.
On the surface, passing along an error in family history isn't a big deal.
But for Moore, a potential White House hopeful, it represents a recurrence of awkward questions surrounding the details of his life, which has followed an improbable trajectory — he's gone from being put in handcuffs at 11 years old to becoming the nation's only sitting Black governor.
Last year, The New York Times reported that Moore, in an application for a prestigious White House fellowship program in 2006, claimed to have received a Bronze Star for his military service in Afghanistan. He told the newspaper at the time it was 'an honest mistake' and that he did so at the urging of a mentor who assured him the paperwork for the award had been filed and anticipated Moore would have received it before the fellowship began.
Moore eventually received the honor several months after the controversy was ignited. He has brushed off questions about why he failed to correct interviewers who introduced him as a 'Bronze Star recipient,' saying in an interview last September with NPR host Michel Martin that he doesn't have time for 'foolishness' and he's working to better the lives of Marylanders.
Moore also faced similar criticism during his 2022 gubernatorial campaign about details of his coming-of-age story in Baltimore and receiving a football award in the state that does not exist.
Moore is up for reelection next year. And while he repeatedly said he's not running for the White House in 2028, many anticipate that detail about his public life may change, too.
TAKING BETS ON 2028 VEEPSTAKES
In an early betting line that's sure to raise eyebrows, one bookmaker has a pair of firebrand House members currently tied for the best odds to secure the No. 2 spot on a presidential nominating ticket — some three years before Democratic primary voters have even selected a standard-bearer.
Two women of color, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Jasmine Crockett of Texas, are the 'co-favorites' at 7-1 odds to be the next Democratic vice presidential nominee, according to political statline maker BetOnline.
'It's a wide open market,' Paul Krishnamurty, BetOnline's political oddsmaker, told The Recast. He adds that the buzz around the two lawmakers is about their proven ability to raise big money, as well as something else Democratic voters say they value.
'Voters who are open to voting Democrat don't want someone to be timid,' he said. 'They don't want someone to forge alliances or have anything to do with Trump. Trump's the enemy.'
Krishnamurty, a British professional gambler by trade who writes about U.S. and U.K. politics, noted that the field of vice presidential picks is fluid given the 2028 presidential nominating contests have yet to get underway.
And since, aside from Harris, the leading Democrats thought to be seeking a 2028 White House bid appear to be largely men at the moment, Ocasio-Cortez and Crockett would add the gender diversity that has been a hallmark of the last three Democratic presidential tickets.
Rounding out the top Democratic picks for vice president in this early betting line are Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear at 8-1 odds; Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania who are tied at 10-1; and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 12-1.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING THIS WEEK
Delgado takes on boss for her job — New York's Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado launched an insurgent campaign to topple the woman who appointed him to his job, Gov. Kathy Hochul. Delgado, as POLITICO's Nick Reisman and Emily Ngo point out, has been reaching out to Black elected officials to make his pitch, casting Hochul as a weak top-of-the-ticket candidate who could put down-ballot Democrats at risk.
And more:
TODAY'S CULTURE RECS
NBA Finals stinker — The NBA Finals kick off on Thursday and it's a matchup of two small-market franchises, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers. One oddsmaker predicts this finals match up will be among the most lopsided in NBA history.
Star Advice — Michael B. Jordan, star of this year's critically acclaimed film 'Sinners' got advice from Denzel Washington about how social media kills movie stars.
Cynthia Erivo gets personal — June is Pride Month, and in a recent interview for Billboard, the 'Wicked' star opens up about her queerness.