MIAMI (AP) – Kamala Harris’s caravan passed through Colombian neighborhoods and made a brief stop in Doral – also called “Doral-zuela,” because of the number of Venezuelans who live there – before crossing the Cuban stronghold of Hialeah, without stopping.
On her first trip to Florida, however, Joe Biden’s running mate did little to woo the vote of the growing Hispanic population, whose political clout is on the rise. Rather, she focused on the African-American leaders waiting for her at a historically black Miami Gardens college.
“You are the future of our country,” she said through a megaphone at Florida Memorial University, where she was greeted by a band and held an hour-long talk with local African-American leaders. “You are the ones who will inspire us and those who will fight for the ideals of our country.”
In one of the most crucial states for the November election, many Democrats fear that Biden is losing ground among Hispanics and giving Donald Trump a chance to win. This prompted renewed efforts by Biden, Harris, and their allies to attract the vote of seniors, suburbs, and African Americans to offset the losses they may suffer elsewhere.
New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg pledged over the weekend to contribute at least $ 100 million to help Democrats in Florida. Biden plans to make his first visit to Florida on Tuesday since winning the presidential nomination. He will participate in a panel discussion with Tampa veterans before attending a Hispanic Heritage Month event in Kissimmee.
If Biden reconquers the north-central part of the country for the Democrats, he will not need Florida to win the White House. As for Trump, he has virtually no chance of being reelected if he doesn’t win in Florida. That is why the state is one of the great priorities of the Democrats.
Democratic concern over Biden’s popularity in Florida is fueled by an NBC-Marist poll released last week that the Hispanic vote is sharply divided between Biden and Trump. The same poll gave Hillary Clinton 59% of that vote to Trump’s 36% in 2016, the year Trump won Florida by one percentage point.
Hispanics in Florida tend to vote Republican in higher percentages than in the rest of the country because of the large Cuban population in the state. At the national level there is not much information available about the voting intentions of that community this year.
Florida observers say Democrats have reason to worry about the Hispanic vote.
“I think the Biden campaign has a lot of work ahead of it,” said Javier Fernández, a Democrat running for the state Senate for Miami-Dade County, where seven out of ten residents identify as of Latin American origin. “I don’t think they’re very enthusiastic about Joe Biden.”
Bernie Sanders, who led the polls among Hispanics early in the Democratic primary, said Sunday that Biden should “court more intensely” Hispanics.
This would imply a more focused, and costly campaign that takes into account the complexity of the Hispanic vote in Florida, with messages targeting Miami Cubans, Dominicans and Venezuelans, first- and second-generation Central American immigrants, and Puerto Ricans. displaced by Hurricane Maria who settled in Florida.
The campaign is broadcasting announcements with rapporteurs in Spanish with the typical accents of each community.
Those close to Biden’s campaign admit privately that he may not win by the same margin as Clinton, but they believe he can succeed among Hispanics. Strategist Cristóbal Alex said the campaign has been running ads in Spanish for months and has launched “Hispanic leadership councils” across the country.
“As we get closer to November, you’re going to see a lot more activity to capture the Hispanic vote,” Alex said.
Ashley Allison, a strategist for Biden’s campaign, said they have made progress across sectors such as seniors, progressives, veterans and Native peoples, among others. Biden’s folks have intensively courted the African-American vote in recent days, with virtual events that included Harris and celebrities like Don Cheadle.
“We don’t have to focus on just one path, one bloc of voters. We can expand the map, ”said Becca Siegel, Biden’s campaign analyst.
Trump, for his part, feels that Democrats are vulnerable. During a tour of the west of the country, he participated in a panel discussion with Hispanics in Las Vegas on Sunday and had another scheduled in Phoenix for Monday.
