TIME Magazine Cover Asserts Latinos Will Decide The Next President

TIME Magazine is making a bold claim: The Latino vote will decide the 2012 elections.

Their cover story, written by Michael Sherer, argues that the Latino vote has grown in certain parts of the country that may determine our President in 2012.

Sherer says that new voters in the Southwest are largely Latino, and that if Obama is able to win "heavily-Latino Western states like Nevada, Colorado and Arizona," he would be able to afford losing industrial Midwestern states like Ohio and Wisconsin.

The author calls it an "awkward coincidence" that the last of the Republican debates is occurring in Arizona -- a state known for its controversial immigration laws. Many believe the GOP's harsh rhetoric surrounding undocumented immigrants has alienated Latinos from the Republican party, and may in turn cost the party the election in 2012.

Somos Republicans founder DeeDee Garcia Blase is one of those people.

She told The Huffington Post that she joined the Republican Party because of the its emphasis on "family values," "capitalism and national security." A fifth generation Mexican-American and a former business owner who served in the U.S. Air Force during the senior Bush administration, Blase says the Republican party has "lost its way."

"They've dehumanized the undocumented immigrant, and people that look like them," Garcia Blase said. "I'm angry that I have to be defending my rights against laws like those in Arizona. I was willing to die for this country, and now I have to defend myself?"

During recent campaign stops and debates, some Republican candidates have ratcheted up their anti-immigrant talk, pledging aggressive measures to discourage illegal immigration. Romney suggested making life so difficult for undocumented immigrants that they "self-deport," Gingrich called for a "double fence," and Ron Paul pledged to "attack their benefits," such as "free education" and "birth right citizenship".

The March 5th issue of TIME Magazine also features an exclusive interview with Marco Rubio, who warns that the Republican party must soften their tone on immigration to appeal to the Latino voter.

Rubio said to TIME:

What’s the Republican legal-­immigration plan? And that’s a problem, when all they hear from you is what you’re against and not what you’re for. The Republican Party has to become the pro–legal immigration party. It has to be a party that puts out two things: a common­sense, compassionate yet law-based response to people that are here without documents, and a robust legal-­immigration system that ­emphasizes border security, worker security and an workable visa program.

Last night at the Republican debate in Arizona, CNN's John King asked Newt Gingrich if he agreed with Rubio's characterization of some of the GOP candidates' rhetoric on the issue as "harsh, intolerable, inexcusable."

Gingrich wouldn't confirm or deny that his party's tone had veered in this direction, saying, "I don't know who [Rubio is] referring to, so I'm not going to comment in general on a statement."

GET TO KNOW THE U.S. HISPANIC POPULATION:

Loading Slideshow

• 43%

  <blockquote><strong>43% </strong>is the percentage increase in the Hispanic population between April 1, 2000, and April 1, 2010, making Hispanics the fastest-growing minority group. Source for all statistics: <a href="http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf" target="_hplink">United States Census</a> </blockquote>

• 50.5 million

  <blockquote><strong> 50.5 million</strong> is the size of the Hispanic population of the United States as of April 1, 2010, making people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 16.3 percent of the nation's total population. In addition, there are 3.7 million residents of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. </blockquote>

• 132.8 million

  <blockquote><strong>132.8 million</strong> is the projected size of the Hispanic population of the United States on July 1, 2050. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 30 percent of the nation's population by that date. </blockquote>

• 2nd

  <blockquote><strong>2nd</strong> is the ranking of the size of the U.S. Hispanic population worldwide, as of 2010. Only Mexico (112 million) had a larger Hispanic population than the United States (50.5 million). </blockquote>

• 14 million

  <blockquote><strong>14 million </strong>is the size of the population of the Hispanic-origin population that lived in California in 2010, up from 11 million in 2000. </blockquote>

• 96%

  <blockquote><strong>96%</strong> is the percentage of the population of Webb County, Texas, that was Hispanic as of 2010. This is the highest proportion of any county in the country.</blockquote>

• 82

  <blockquote> <strong>82</strong> is the number of the nation's 3,143 counties that were majority-Hispanic.</blockquote>

• 10.4 million

  <blockquote>10.4 million is the number of Hispanic family households in the United States in 2010.</blockquote>

• 35 Million

  <blockquote><strong>35 million</strong> is the number of U.S. residents 5 and older who spoke Spanish at home in 2009. Those who <em>hablan español</em> constituted 12 percent of U.S. residents. More than half of these Spanish speakers spoke English "very well." </blockquote>

• 26.6%

  <blockquote><strong>26.6%</strong> is the poverty rate among Hispanics in 2010, up from 25.3 percent in 2009, and 23.2 percent in 2008.</blockquote>

• 14%

  <blockquote> <strong>14%</strong> the percentage of the Hispanic population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2010.</blockquote>

• 47%

  <blockquote><strong>47%</strong> is the percent of the foreign-born population that was Hispanic in 2009.</blockquote>

• 9.7 million

  <blockquote><strong> 9.7 million </strong>is the number of Hispanic citizens who reported voting in the 2008 presidential election, about 2 million more than voted in 2004. The percentage of Hispanic citizens voting went from 47 percent in 2004 to 50 percent in 2008. </blockquote>

• 1.1 million

  <blockquote><strong>1.1 million</strong> is the number of Hispanics or Latinos 18 and older who are veterans of the U.S. armed forces.</blockquote>

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Comments

[Jason Raider]

04:21 AM on 10/22/2012

Serious question: I love many aspects of Latin-American culture: sense of family, friendship, hospitality, music, literature, cuisine, etc. But, from Tijuana to Tierra del Fuego, the political culture is rotten in most of Latin-America, as demonstrated by the rampant corruption, the absence of rule of law, poverty and the clientalism. I have come to see that when a sufficient number of people migrate to a new location, for good AND for bad, they recreate the social, political and even economic environment of their home countries. So, is it not a legitimate concern that along with the great aspects of their home countries, Latinos will recreate the negative political aspects that drove them to flee their countries of birth in the first place?

[tiredofit11]

10:52 PM on 12/02/2012

Did Europeans recreate the oppressive political and economic conditions that caused them to flee Europe hundreds of years ago? SIGH...

[mitsecl]

04:15 PM on 04/21/2012

YES WE WILL...y vamos a mantener al Presidente Obama...OBAMA 2012!!!

[Pedro Huertero]

06:32 AM on 03/05/2012

I hope the Latinos make the right decision this time. It is ridiculous that the old Cuban Miami voters vote Republican, or that young latino groups support GOP. GOP goes against anything the Latino dream stands for. Es una verguenza.

[AttilaTheFun]

12:50 PM on 03/05/2012

I kind of agree with what you're saying, because I know what you're getting at but you have to realize that "Latino Dream" is subjective. I would be careful what you try and pass off as a fact...just a thought. =)

[Gcock10]

11:12 PM on 03/04/2012

YEAH. LET US NOT FORGET WHO WANT US ALL DEPORTED and our children FORCED OUT OF SCHOOL

[csmomo]

08:58 AM on 03/02/2012

It that is truly the case I am sure they will be voting for the rich white guys.

[hlasv3]

10:27 PM on 02/24/2012

Oh yes, please, please elect a Latino President so that he can pick an all Latino Government and swing open the borders so that this country can be run over by illegal people (now legal) wanting to have all the freebies here. We've got plenty of money and health care and food and jobs for millions of non-residents! Then all these politicians that have allowed our country to be trampled to death by illegality (and now they have no jobs!) will see the error of allowing this invasion..........

[raleigh1997]

10:33 AM on 02/27/2012

What a fool you are!

[hlasv3]

11:28 AM on 02/27/2012

None is a fool always, everyone sometimes --- George Herbert

[troothspeeks]

01:19 AM on 03/04/2012

Wow ignorance on Parade.

[hlasv3]

10:00 AM on 03/04/2012

No, this wasn't the parade! The parade was in 2003 when I had to leave the apartment building where I lived because so many illegals had moved in that the place was uninhabitable.

[Karissa36]

10:04 PM on 02/24/2012

The Latino vote doesn't seem to be too powerful in Arizona, or maybe Latino voters aren't as interested in protecting illegal immigrants as the author thinks.

[miklo1881]

01:31 PM on 02/24/2012

majority are here illegally collecting FREE everything (housing, food, education, medicare, etc...) and obama is all about it. Why work a job and pay taxes when you don't have to... Can you image being able to go to another country and collect social security when you have never worked a day in your life or paid a penny into the fund, so when its time for hardworking americans to retire there will be nothing left. By that time we should be enjoying $10+/gallon for gasoline as well. A 5th grade classroom could do better than our government officials

[raleigh1997]

10:37 AM on 02/27/2012

Really? My family has been in this country for over forty years and we have never been here illegaly. Moreover we are all college educated and gainfully employed - I probably pay considerably more income taxes than you make in one year.

Easy to stereotype and make dumb comments, isn't it?

[Carolyn Davis Johnson]

03:02 PM on 02/27/2012

So what? My family has been here since the 1600's. So what? We're talking about illegal 3rd world peasants here.

[nefgarcia]

09:53 AM on 02/24/2012

The immigration debate among Republicans has less to do about whether Latinos are "legal" or "illegal" and more to do with the Party's leaders, supporters, contributors, and voters profound fear they are losing their false sense of dominion over either ethnic and/or class groups becoming voting majorities and threatening their status.

Immigration is code for "All Latinos Beware!" The Republican dominated state legislatures' offensives to intended to suppress political participation, deny human rights, and intimidate Latinos in order to restore a legacy of entitlement over people who they consider to be intellectually and spiritually inferior.

What these aggressors do not understand is that Latinos are demonstrating through this year's election cycle that these tactics are rejected through a silent but determined resolve that "We will not take it anymore!" Our vote is our voice.

[Gary Storch]

09:45 AM on 02/24/2012

The GOP is not only anti-immigration. They have become anti anything that is not Christian and not wealthy.
If you don't think like they do concerning religion and the 1%...you don't fit into their tent.

[csmomo]

09:02 AM on 03/02/2012

You should, in a context such as this, remember to put "Christian" in quotation marks.
To them, "salvation" comes with big bank accounts and you get rich because "God" likes you.

[Pedro Huertero]

06:33 AM on 03/05/2012

and yet there are latino groups supporting their fundamentalist xenophobic agenda.

[Gary Storch]

09:32 AM on 03/05/2012

Lots of Latino groups are "Catholic" and have been taught to never question authority.
The major problem with religion is that pretext!

[jerzygurl]

08:09 AM on 02/24/2012

Marco Rubio as the VP candidate will stun the Democrats later this summer.

[konspikuous]

08:38 AM on 02/24/2012

Except that his former life as a Mormon all but assures...he won't be anyone's veep.

[csmomo]

09:11 AM on 03/02/2012

Not even Romney's?

[Gary Storch]

09:49 AM on 02/24/2012

He will stun us with his tone deaf take on the countries problems just like the rest of the GOP.
You have been in charge of the Congress now for a long time and I still have not seen one jobs bill.
The Senate controlled by a 60 vote filibuster rule by the GOP paralyzes the system in the same way.
Where's the jobs??? I'm tired of hearing about wedge issues!

[jslatts32]

09:29 AM on 02/26/2012

If you havn't seen a jobs bill passed by the House it's because your truely uninformed or blind. They've passed 25 bills that prince Harry has shelved in the Senate and won't bring up for a vote.

[raleigh1997]

10:40 AM on 02/27/2012

Wedge issues are about all the GOPers have to offer because they have no solutions to our economic troubles.

[piratesfan23]

07:58 AM on 02/24/2012

It's sad that our media manipulates people to collectively see themselves as having to vote for one party or another. (ala 96 percent of black voters voted for Obama)

Yes, our country is moving towards being more Hispanic...but what's really best for Hispanics may not be the short-term gratification or promises which seem to always leave minorities disappointed in the long-run.

The truth is minorities are treated as pawns by politicians. Under Bush/Obama minorities have suffered immensely. The statistics do not lie here. The status of the country doesn't lie either. Like an overloving parent, most of you desire to help minorities but in really are just espousing policies which will leave them dependent and stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty...the likes of which none of you know because you don't live in urban areas.

Ron Paul is the only candidate, who gets that. The key to freedom is upholding equal laws for everyone, no exceptions. That means yes, if you are an illegal. Get out. If you are an illegal and receiving benefits. Get out. If you are receiving corporate welfare or normal welfare, the system needs fixed...

A collective mind leads to justification. There is no justification that is acceptable. If I can't do something that you can do...if our government can do things that I can't do. something is drastically flawed with the law or our upholding of it..

[lazylib]

01:30 AM on 02/24/2012

14% the percentage of the Hispanic population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2010.
26.6% is the poverty rate among Hispanics in 2010, up from 25.3 percent in 2009, and 23.2 percent in 2008.

This change in demographics is something to be cheered? Look at those numbers. No wonder America is screwed. Looks like more are coming too.

[Isela D]

02:59 AM on 02/24/2012

According to the US census bureau, the poverty rate in the USA rose for a third consecutive year to hit 15.1% in 2011. The number of people in poverty was the largest since the government first began publishing estimates, in 1959.

The poverty rate is not exclusive to the Hispanic population. And as you very well know, the bad economy it's largely due to the organized white-crime of Wall-street, large corporations, ponzi schemes, government bail-outs, housing market, crises in Europe,...etc..
How come you don't focus your "educated mind" to fight the top-criminals?

After all, if you don't have a job, lost you home, lost part of your retirement and investments, you very well know is not because the illegal-immigrants. Get real.

[zelduh]

03:36 AM on 02/24/2012

Well, my friend, there are LOTS of Hispanics like me. I am a lawyer. (I know lots of Hispanic lawyers.) My brother is a physician, who happened to serve as the Chief of Surgery in the biggest hospital in San Francisco. (Guess what; he knows lots of Hispanic physicians too.) My older sister is a writer (for a right-wing propaganda magazine - we are sad that she supports the whacky ideology, but what the heII...)

We are not all poor - and, of course, we ALL VOTE.

[hlasv3]

10:47 PM on 02/24/2012

You can't swing a dead cat by the tail in Los Angeles or Las Vegas without hitting an illegal!

[doctor pangloss]

12:40 AM on 02/24/2012

Be ready for a different flag to fly over the White House,Hispanics will soon take over the nation simply by virtue of their exponential birth rate. Hasta la vista gringos.

[Isela D]

12:54 AM on 02/24/2012

Similar propaganda was made about the German-Americans, and the Soviets, and recently; even about the Muslim religion... please... get real.

[zelduh]

03:37 AM on 02/24/2012

Exactly.

[doctor pangloss]

01:15 AM on 02/24/2012

Not one of those groups you mentioned had the birth rate of today's Hispanics.

[Isela D]

01:21 AM on 02/24/2012

Yet, the fear, buzz, and xenophobic propaganda had similar tones and levels..

[zelduh]

03:42 AM on 02/24/2012

But, Dr. Pangloss; aren't you AGAINST contraception? What would you expect?

[Armando Cedillo]

12:23 AM on 02/24/2012

DeeDee Garcia Blase is a buffoonish media courtesan who has latched onto the La Raza Victimhood Express. Most Hispanics do not want to see America turned into Mexico or El Salvador and consequently have little sympathy for the constant downpours of undocumented foreign nationals that burst through our borders each year. If we wanted to live in jam-packed slums girded by double-dealing, nepotism and cronyism we'd move south of the border. We DON'T. We want to live in an economically viable country where jurisprudence, environmental stewardship and shared identity are celebrated. Illegal immigration impairs this ideal.

[Isela D]

12:35 AM on 02/24/2012

Armando Cerote, when are you going to come out of the shadows and post your real name and flag?

[Armando Cedillo]

12:58 AM on 02/24/2012

Both are real, my child. As for coming out of the shadows, that is what the entire illegal immigration debate is about, no?

[PaticaDeGato]

08:29 AM on 02/24/2012

Come Isela D, aren't you falling for the silly belief that Hispanics are unable to "speak the English good?" For a liberal, you are rather biased.

[zelduh]

03:39 AM on 02/24/2012

The Mexican government is very similar to the US government, in style. But they do not assist the poor at all, kinda how the GOP wants to run this country.