Latino Political Power

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As of this afternoon, I am writing to 728 email subscribers, and this post marks our 15-week mark of publishing daily posts from Monday to Friday. A 15-week streak.

Before I share my thoughts about our latest podcast episode with Frankie Miranda, President & CEO of the Hispanic Federation, today is the 7th anniversary of Hurricane María destroying Puerto Rico.

I still recall those early hours where it was clear that Puerto Rico was facing a massive catastrophe that has forever impacted its people. This is a BBC News clip of what I was reporting out during those initial days seven years ago.

Seeing Twitter (X) today has brought back countless memories of those days.

Days after the devastation, I was asked about the situation on MSNBC and brought up an issue that nobody in American media was covering at the time. There was a sense of urgency. I could even hear it in my voice, seven years later.

The next months, thanks to the excellent work of Puerto Rico’s Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, what was an ignored story outside of the island became a global one.

The death count was in the thousands.

Now, seven years later, people are not forgetting. Not even Bad Bunny, who released a new song on the 7th anniversary.

Ok, on to our latest podcast episode.

Episode 8: Latino Political Power

I finally got to chat with Frankie Miranda of the Hispanic Federation about the state of Latino political power in 2024. Yes, Frankie, who also penned an opinion piece this week for The Latino Newsletter, shared some excellent insights about what Latino power actually means.

The conversation was lively. I learned a lot about Frankie’s cat Valentina but also about how Democrats and Republicans still don’t understand Latinos.

“We see in our recent poll that we had a large number of Latinos, at least one-third of Latinos are saying that they want to hear more about policies from the campaigns,” Frankie told me. “So we still have an incredible opportunity here to educate people about the electoral process, what these two campaigns are proposing. And the fact is that there is a movable block in our community in which they're basically saying, whoever talks to me, whoever knocks on my door and listens to me, that is the campaign or the candidate that is gonna get my vote.”

Here is the show.

If you like what you hear and want to be notified of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, or iHeart Radio. We are also on YouTube.

We are also posting all episodes here at The Latino Newsletter.

Thanks for listening!

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What We’re Reading

The Swing Latinos: This week, Equis shared more analysis about its pre-debate battleground poll of Latino voters. It noted the following, “A growing share of Latino voters appear locked into their vote, but the gettable voters who remain could help determine the outcome in various states in this very close election. For Trump to pick up a few points among Latinos who value his "strong man/businessman" persona he would need to surmount their overwhelming perception he doesn't work on their behalf. Harris enjoys major advantages with persuadable Hispanics, starting with precisely the belief that she will look out for people like them. Whether she can consolidate or even expand her lead comes down to whether her campaign can address these voters’ outstanding doubts, and whether this reassurance will be enough to also drive them to the polls.”

Biden at CHCHI: On Thursday night, President Joe Biden gave remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute 47th Annual Awards Gala.

Finally, it has been great week at The Latino Newsletter… until this happened:

I will need to weekend to absorb that one. In case you know nothing about the Jeanine Cummings controversy, let’s go back to 2020.

About the Author

Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder and interim publisher of The Latino Newsletter.

Do you believe in creating new journalism lanes for Latinos and Latinas? Do you believe that U.S. mainstream outlets will never understand our community? Consider donating to The Latino Newsletter. Any little bit helps to keep this newsletter free and accessible to all. ¡Gracias mil!