Washington Examiner
By David Drucker
July 29, 2015
In his bid to connect with Hispanic voters, Jeb Bush has taken an extra, unusual step.
The
Republican presidential contender has hired Raul Henriquez to staff him
on the campaign trail. The former congressional aide speaks fluent
Spanish and serves as Bush's
second "body man." Henriquez' title refers to an aide whose job it is
to staff Bush at all times. But he was added to the former Florida
governor's traveling entourage — alternating time on the road with
Bush's regular body man — to ease interaction between
the candidate and Spanish-speaking voters.
That's
just one example of Bush's commitment to Hispanic outreach and his
early focus on this key voting bloc, as manifested this week with his
first interview conducted
entirely in Spanish. This engagement could clearly pay dividends in the
general election. But what about in the nomination fight that comes
first; are there enough Hispanic primary voters to deliver an early
payoff to Bush or other Republicans who mimic his
approach?
"They
could make a difference if you're able to mobilize a good number of
them," said Bush supporter Luis Fortuno, the former governor of Puerto
Rico who now works as
a lawyer in Washington.
In
the Republicans' deep and competitive 2016 primary field, every vote
could count in the early voting states and beyond. But the GOP's 2012
Republican presidential nominee,
Mitt Romney, won only 27 percent of the Hispanic vote, and it's unclear
how fruitful efforts to target this growing demographic could be in the
battle for the nomination. Nevada, which votes fourth after Iowa, New
Hampshire and South Carolina, could be an
exception.
Recent
census figures showed that 27.5 percent of Nevadans were Hispanic.
Silver State Republicans are holding a caucus to pick their choice for
the nomination, and that
means that motivating anywhere from 5,000 and 10,000 Hispanics to
participate and support a particular candidate could have an impact on
the outcome. Other states with sizable Hispanic populations could offer a
similar opportunity if the primary becomes an
extended fight for delegates.
And
here, Bush has some competition from an old friend, Sen. Marco Rubio of
Florida who also speaks fluent Spanish. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whose
father was born in Cuba
and is conversational in Spanish, adds to the GOP's ethnically diverse
field. The Cruz campaign did not respond to a request for comment on its
approach to targeting Hispanic voters.
Rubio,
44, born of poor immigrants from Cuba, hails from Miami but spent some
of his childhood in Las Vegas. Rubio's early polling with Hispanics has
been in the low to
mid-30s, but ahead of the competition. The senator has been interviewed
by Spanish language television, in Spanish, since announcing for
president in April and his campaign said it's become "routine" for him,
but declined to further discuss its strategy for
Hispanic outreach.
"Rubio
presents a new dynamic that could generate excitement among
conservative Hispanics," said one of his Republican supporters, who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The
Democrats argue otherwise — about Rubio and every other Republican in
the race. Lately, the Democratic National Committee has seized on Donald
Trump's comments about
Hispanics and illegal immigration — the bombastic billionaire
businessman referred to illegal Mexican immigrants as "rapists" in his
speech announcing his campaign for the Republican nomination — to tar
the GOP as anti-Hispanic and anti-immigrant. "Jeb Bush's
policies will devastate Hispanic communities," read a DNC press release
issued Monday.
On
Monday, Bush, 62, sat for an interview in Orlando, Fla., with
Telemundo's Jose Diaz-Balart. He discussed a range of issues, from how
his Mexican-born wife, Columba,
infused his family with Latin culture and how that experience, and his
having bilingual, biracial children, has shaped his approach to politics
and policy, to immigration reform, education, President Obama's Iran
deal and Trump's harsh words for illegal immigrants.
Bush didn't say anything he hasn't said in English.
As
important an asset as Bush's linguistic fluency could be in his
courting of Hispanic voters, Fortuno said Bush's cultural fluency with
U.S. Hispanics who hail from
a range of Latin American countries, is equally significant. Getting
the phrases and hand gestures just right matters in communicating to
Spanish speakers, and taking the time to learn the difference
communicates respect. For a Republican Party with little
room for error with Hispanic voters, every advantage counts.
"Speaking
the language is important," Fortuno said. "But showing respect is
really the bottom line here. Putting up ads, but ads that actually the
translation into Spanish
is accurate — some of what I've seen is treacherous. The translation is
so poor it hurts whoever is paying thousands of dollars for that ad."
Bush appears to have the most developed Hispanic engagement strategy among Republicans.
In
addition to Henriquez, the aide focused on communication with Spanish
speakers who attend Bush's campaign rallies, the governor tapped Emily
Benavides to handle Spanish
language press and Nevada, and Jose Mallea to oversee his outreach to
Hispanic voters. Mallea previously worked at the Libre Initiative, a
conservative group focused on wooing Hispanics, and in 2010 served as
campaign manager for Rubio's Senate campaign.
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