Ominous Omen for Democrats

William McGurn cites some interesting statistics in an op-ed in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal (paywall). The stats must be very troubling for Democrats who, McGurn writes, are sounding the tocsins:

A May postelection analysis by a trio of left-leaning organizations noted that while Latino turnout in 2020 grew “dramatically” over 2016, Democrats saw a “significant dip in support in places with high concentrations of Latino and Hispanic voters.”

The centerpiece of McGurn's column is a survey taken by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) of likely Latino voters in battleground states.

The survey asked Latinos to choose between two statements. The first was unadulterated Milton Friedman: “Some people say free-market capitalism is the best form of government because it gives people the freedom to work and achieve.”

The second was what we might call the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez option: “Other people say that socialism is the best form of government because it is more fair and equitable to working class people.” Almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents opted for the Friedman position, against only 17% for the AOC line. Hardly surprising, given that so many Latinos came to the U.S. in the first place to escape socialism.

That Latinos prefer capitalism to the brand of socialism the progressive left is pushing is, McGurn avers, just the beginning of the bad news for Democrats:

• 67% are “very concerned” their kids “won’t have the same opportunities me and my family came here to find.”
• 58% said too many people in America are happy not to work and “just live off government assistance.”
• 80% percent agree that “public schools are failing.”
• 67% agree that too many Americans “are losing our traditional values centered on faith, family and freedom.”
• 57% “oppose Democrat efforts to pack the Supreme Court with liberal judges.”
• 72% agree “we should do what is necessary to control our southern border.”
• 65% oppose the Democrats’ “bill that would make voter ID illegal.”
• 50% agree that “many of the policies that Democrats say help all minorities actually end up hurting Hispanic families.”

McGurn adds that the NRSC concludes that the political future isn’t California — it’s Florida. Florida’s electorate, the report notes, is substantially less white than it was in 2000, yet it is also more Republican than it was 20 years ago.

McGurn goes on to point out how progressive fetishes like Critical Race Theory, defunding the police and opposition to voter ID are all unpopular with a demographic that's largely family-oriented, hard-working, and religiously and socially conservative.

He concludes with this:

The really bad news for Democrats? This was all back when Joe Biden was still selling himself to Americans as a moderate.

To be sure. Now that Mr. Biden has revealed himself to be pliable clay in the hands of the progressive left one wonders what those stats would look like were the survey taken today.

The Democrats had nurtured hopes of turning Texas blue by flooding the state with Hispanics they thought would be docile and dependable Democratic voters. It's one reason they've been so soft on illegal immigration and opposed the border wall.

Now that it appears, however, that Hispanics willing to trek a thousand miles and risk all manner of hazard to get into the U.S. are likely to vote Republican I suppose we'll soon start hearing Democrats demanding that we hurry up with that wall. Their slogan will be that it needs only to be "built back better."