To Win the Presidency, Democrats Need to Mobilize the Mexican American Vote Nationally—-As We Do in California

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Steven J. Ybarra, JD

Race, sex and age are always issues in every political campaign.

In every political campaign a successful candidate will confront racism, acknowledge economic inequality, and assure voters of all ages that their agendas will be addressed. For the last eight years I have trained thousands of political activists to address race, sex and age in the fight to get political power. Most intelligent people acknowledge that political power is never given - it is only taken.

The Mexican American in today's society is feared as an illegal alien in his own country. He is not viewed as a contributor but as a tax burden on white and black society, even though he is the one who is a strong part of the backbone of small business in America. He is attacked as the one who is stealing jobs. Mind you the phrase is always about “illegal aliens” but racists rarely are able to distinguish between those who are citizens and those who are not.

The Mexican American is a citizen who is feared by the beltway political bubble because of its inability to pigeonhole this voter into any clear mold.

What I am saying is on the minds of many of my political colleagues who, because they fear political retribution, are afraid to come out and agree. They call me and admit that there is a problem with getting attention paid to the Mexican American voter but ask to keep the conversations private. I, on the other hand, by being elected by the grassroots of the California Democratic party, have a great deal of independence.

One great reality is that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and its Chair have miserably failed the Mexican American voter and have not paid back the loyalty given freely and generously to the Party. CNN on its website states that there are 17 million Spanish surnamed American voters who are eligible to vote in the upcoming election. If one estimates that 66% of all Spanish surnamed citizens in the United States of America are of Mexican descent, one can approximate that 11 million Mexican American voters exist.

Sadly, Americans do not take democracy seriously. Statistically only half of all eligible Americans are registered to vote, and if the Mexican American holds true to all Americans, only one half of them are registered to vote as well. In addition, between now and the November election, one million Mexican Americans will turn eighteen and no one is talking to them from the Democratic Party! In addition, 300,000 Mexicans will become Mexican Americans during this time. New citizens usually register in the party of the sitting U.S. President, but that is no longer the case today. Over 70% of Mexican Americans are registering either as Independent or as Democrats.