NPR Helps Democrats Explain How They’ll Stop Losing Latino Voters

Democrats are dismayed at the fact that they did not dominate Latino voting in 2021, or in 2020. Now, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is sharing their updated minority-engagement strategy exclusively to Juana Summers (NPR race-beat reporter). How cozy!

On Wednesday’s All Things ConsideredSummers offered a platform to DCCC Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney from New York, so there were no criticisms. 

SEAN PATRICK MALAY: More meaningful engagement. We believe that when we put our best voters first, we see a tremendous return.

JUANA SUMMERS: Maloney talks about early engagement, cultural competency. He also acknowledges criticisms made by activists and strategists. The party’s outreach to African-American voters can feel forced and rushed. It also says that it is not always authentic.

Let me give an example. I’m going to refer back to the conversation I had over a year ago, with Chuck Rocha. His name is Chuck Rocha, a Democratic consultant. He was responsible for Latino outreach in Bernie Sanders’ campaign.

CHUCK ROCHA – Unlike other campaigns that rely on white establishment consultants to Google Translate a Spanish word that has been written for white people in suburbia, our campaign would employ cultural competency to make certain that it was translated correctly to Spanish.

“Cultural competence” refers to the ability to win “voters who do not speak English”. It seems that all of the pro-Democrat biases on Univision or Telemundo are not enough. They’re concerned they are losing minority voters who are not college-educated…people who probably don’t listen to NPR at the Starbucks.

JUANA SUMMERS: The committee is also focusing on disinformation and focusing its efforts in particular on media consumed frequently by people of color. In the days before the Nov 2020 election, disinformation was flooding voters of color. Critics claim the party failed to do enough against it. Maloney spoke specifically to Republican efforts to connect Democrats to Socialism and Defunding Police.

Oh, sure! Yes! This argument is not likely to be laughed at by NPR. 

The liberal journalists agreed that this was just rhetoric on Thursday’s NPR Politics podcast.

ASMA KHALID (I have heard similar things from campaign workers in each campaign cycle I have covered) and I am not certain what I understand.

KELSEY-SNELL: I agree.

JUANA SUMMERS: Because I believe that I can have the same conversations every time I vote, I am able to agree with them both.

But hope springs eternal. Summers said that “this broad proposal is underpinned by research.” Seven figures are being spent on research and polling.

The report and podcast did not talk about how Democrats may lose Latinos if they tell parents that they don’t need to play any part in the education of their children. NPR kept the conversation …. sparse. 

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