It’s Always Good to Know Your Opponent’s Tendencies in a Debate — if You Want to Counter and Then Win

by Vernon Lance Tarrance May 19, 2023

The Democrats are setting up their strategy for reversal of the recent GOP success and bells must have been going off in Democratic Party headquarters since the last election. Democrat leaders always say they are going to campaign differently but rarely do. A new report out “tells the world” how the 2024 election will be engaged by the Biden Democrat team — and in their own words.

The following edited excerpts from the Axios Latino article provide strategic intelligence. As Republicans have been gaining ground on Democrats for about the last ten years, “Know your opponent” is crucial in any type of confrontation.

BIDEN’S PLAN FOR THE LATINO VOTERS

(Axios Latino, May 18, 2023, by Marina E. Franco and Russell Contreras)

“President Biden will enter 2024 determined to reverse Democrats’ sliding support among Latino voters, in part by building on the playbook the party used with surprising success in key states during last year’s midterms, Democratic officials say…”

 

“Why it matters: To Democrats, it’s never been more crucial. For a decade they’ve been losing ground to Republicans among Latinos, the nation’s youngest and fastest-growing demographic, with millions more expected to be new voters in 2024…”

Key talking points: 

• “GOP support among Latinos — a complex electorate that’s more than 14% of eligible U.S. voters — has increased by about 10 points since 2018. In the 2022 midterms, Republican congressional candidates won about 39% of Latinos’ votes.”
• “Some recent polls have illustrated Biden’s challenge: His favorable ratings among Hispanics have been in the 40s and low 50s much of this year — higher than potential GOP challenger Donald Trump, but not what Biden needs.“
• “Zoom in: The good news for Democrats is that a lot can change before November 2024 — and their success in getting Latinos to the polls in key states last year provides a model for a Biden turnaround.“
• “As they did in 2022, Democrats will focus particularly on growing Latino populations in Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania — politically divided states where a strong Latino turnout can be a difference-maker, especially in the presidential race. Georgia and North Carolina also will be targets.”
• “The Democratic National Committee plans to spend seven figures on bilingual ads narrated by speakers with different Spanish accents, a DNC official told Axios.”
• “The DNC plans to host campaign “bootcamps” for bilingual staffers from across the country, work with Hispanic caucuses in state Democratic parties, and partner with groups such as Latino Victory and Voto Latino.”
• “Biden’s campaign also will include at least eight groups targeting various Latin nationalities, such as Cubanos con Biden, Venezolanos con Biden, and Colombianos con Biden.”
• “Zoom out: Biden’s team signaled a focus on Latino voters by picking the granddaughter of Mexican American labor leader Cesar Chavez — Julie Chavez Rodriguez — to lead his re-election campaign.”
• “Her appointment was a milestone — but also drew attention to Democrats’ need to go beyond symbolic gestures to activate Latino voters.”