I think for many, the realization that the way we speak to the Hispanic community was not ideal occurred at NetRoots Nation. Protestors took to the grounds to shout messages to Joe Biden, concerned over the issues regarding how the administration is handling immigration issues. The decision to delay any decision on immigration by the President was viewed by many as 'smart politics' in hopes of saving races and providing a chance for Democrats to deal with issues head on.
What we are discovering, though is that not only were these moves not right for the community, they also may not have been the right moves politically. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but I think now is the time to reflect on what we must do if we want to reach a community that is willing to support the democratic goals.
Over the last year, I've criss-crossed Kansas meeting with people to work to change the message in our state. I'm proud of my work in those efforts, but I also know that we have to work hard to refine how we talk to people.
Following the election, I'll expand on that further, but for today, I want to talk about how we address the Hispanic voter while there is still time.
I've attended three rallies now to help get out the Hispanic vote. We've provided musical performers, voter registration services when they were available, and we've met with community leaders.
In our voter registration efforts, people were willing to come and sign up to register - something I chronicled here.
In Kansas, we are under dual track voting now. You can fill out the motor voter, but it means you'll only be able to vote in Federal, not state races. So, for those interested in voting out our Secretary of State, the need to vote in a state race is important. That weekend gave us a lot of voters who were interested, and registrations had a good run of people signing up and becoming voters. LULAC and others had advices people on what they would need. One individual came forward to register and he had his drivers license and a lot of other paperwork. What he didn't have was a birth certificate, immigration form, or a passport. We explained the requirements to him. He was, frankly, furious. Why was this so hard? He was BORN in America, why was he guilty first, and had to prove he was who he said he was? The difficulty of getting his out of state birth certificate seemed like a cost in time and money he didn't know how to approach. Frustrated, he tore up his voter registration. Kris Kobach had, in the end, won with this voter, who will not vote in the 2014 cycle.
We've had follow up events, meetings in those and other communities and I've had time to talk to a great number of people about how we change what some are saying could be a 'historic low' in Hispanic voter turnout in our state.
Over the last two weeks, however, what I have heard is: We are unhappy with President Obama, who promised action on Immigration and nothing has happened. How is this any better than what we have? I hear: Why does no one speak to our communities about jobs, respect, and our future? More recently, I've heard: why aren't their more options to learn about the candidates in Spanish?
I'm seeing a very real - and at times bitterly angry feeling in registration and voter outreach events that I would equate to a near feeling of betrayal of policies. You see, for a great number of people, civil rights - their own personal issues - come far before political loyalty, as it should.
Now is the time to brave the lions den - enter conservative areas where voters want to talk to us and talk to them. In Kansas, we have several communities in the Southwest Corner that are up to 70% Hispanic. Democratic trips to that area? Scarce. The reason is simple: too many Democrats are worried about appearing in those communities and being tarred on 'the wrong side' of the immigration issue and suffering elsewhere in the state, while making small inroads in a voting base that doesn't turn out. Democrats feel as though they can't win the west, and so they avoid it. Despite the fact that the Hispanic community is growing there faster than anywhere else, and is quickly becoming the dominant force in those towns.
From a political science text book, this argument to avoid the west and the Hispanic communities makes absolute sense. As a matter of longterm party growth is not only poor strategy, it fails to grow the party when we should be reaching new voters. What is needed isn't a matter of words, but actions. We must work harder going forward to not just invite this community to vote in the process, but to become the leaders in the process.
If a community is 70% Hispanic, why is their representation White and Republican? Because there hasn't been an effective outreach to help run Hispanic candidates.
Election years are filled with moments where consultants and advisers say: woulda, coulda, shoulda. Instead, I will tell you that we learn something new everytime and we can put it into action.
We will end the 2014 election cycle in 13 days. But the 2016 election cycle has to begin the day after. Working to recruit candidates - to get people involved.
The takeaway from this year is simple: we must move away from worrying about elections only when they are right on top of us, and we must work harder, earlier to combat the message if we want success and growth within the party.