Imperfect Paradise: Are Latino pollsters helping or hurting the Democratic cause?

California Love

LAist Studios

Music

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 July 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Democrats confront declining Latino support across three consecutive presidential elections, a fierce debate is unfolding within the party: Are Latino advocacy groups and polling firms helping or hurting the Democratic cause? Critics argue that a flawed messaging strategy — and a complacent advocacy infrastructure — have led to Latino voters drifting right, even toward Donald Trump. But advocates push back, warning that the narrative of a dramatic rightward shift is exaggerated and politically dangerous. In the final episode of a three-part collaboration with Latino USA, Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido and Latino USA host Maria Hinojosa take you inside the high-stakes debate over the future of Latino political power in America.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Larry Mantle. This year marks the 40th anniversary of my program Air Talk. On the show, we've discussed the biggest topics and events of the day from earthquakes to elections. Please join me for the biggest conversation in Southern California for 40 years.
0:15.7	Hi, I'm Rob Risko, VP of membership here at LAist, the place that helps you discover, navigate, and change your community.
0:21.6	We connect you with the people and issues that matter to you, and that's possible because LAIS is
0:26.3	funded by you. Thank you. Please donate now at LAIS.com slash give.
0:30.9	Here's a little history to start off our show. Americans started using the term Hispanic in 1970,
0:39.6	when the category was added to the census.
0:46.5	And ever since, there's been this perception that Hispanics would need their own political representation.
1:02.7	Now, today, the preferred term has become Latino, and the number of Latinos in this country since that first census has continued to boom.
1:10.9	As of July 2023, there are more than 65 million Latinos in the U.S. making up over 19% of the nation's population.
1:14.7	And there are a growing percentage of this country's electorate.
1:20.6	Latinos make up nearly 15% of all eligible voters, according to the Pew Research Center.
1:28.1	The hope for the Democratic Party, especially since the mid-aughts, was that the Latino vote would be reliably theirs,
1:33.8	especially because they were the party pushing for more progressive immigration policies, or so they said.
1:36.6	And Latinos have historically favored Democrats.
1:41.7	Often more than 60% of Latino voters choose Democratic presidential candidates.
1:45.7	However, the results of the recent presidential election,
1:50.6	which elected Donald Trump, have led some to question that notion that Latinos and Latinas would be more reliably Democratic voters. Well, by now it's been more than half a year after
1:58.8	the election, and political strategists seem to have
2:01.6	very different opinions about why Latinos are voting less for the Democratic Party than ever before.
2:09.4	Is it faulty data, tone-deaf messaging, is it an agenda that's too progressive or too
2:15.3	moderate for Latino and Latina voters?
2:18.2	Or is it something bigger?
	...

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