Since the primary in Nevada, where Latinos voted in record numbers, and largely voted for Senator Clinton, the Latino vote has become an important topic of conversation and speculation across all the media outlets, both in English and Spanish.  Many are asking, what role will Latinos play in the 2008 presidential election? 

The upcoming primary and caucus votes in Texas on March 3rd are expected to demonstrate not only the growing political muscle of Latinos in the state, but also their demographic importance in the changing political landscape across the US.  Since Texas has many Latinos, especially of Mexican descent, it’s believe that presidential hopefuls will need Latinos on their side if they are to win the state’s primary and caucus ballot votes.  While this may be true for Texas, according to senior analyst, Richard Fry from the Pew Hispanic Center, the Latino vote will not make a huge difference in the national election. 

Speaking at a luncheon organized by the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center at UConn Storrs last month, Dr. Fry argued that despite the media hype, the Latino vote is not as significant as popular discourse suggests for several reasons.  For one, the number of eligible Latino voters is in fact less than the population as whole because of citizenship status, and the number of Latinos who actually register is also a smaller number.  Secondly, the median age for Latinos is below 18 years old, which means a substantial portion of the population is under voting age.  Lastly, Latinos are still concentrated in particular states on the West Coast, East Coast, Midwest, and South, and thus regionally and locally, they can make a difference, but nationally, Latinos still have a way to go. 

I will admit; I was surprised that the aforementioned data was translated into an argument about the insignificance of the Latino vote.  Although we are indeed a young population, in which some of us lack citizenship papers or the desire to live in colder climes, we are also a population that is rapidly changing the faces and places of the US. 

The youth may not be able to vote this coming November, but my twelve-year old son and many of his friends, are witnessing, through this election campaign and the immigrant rights campaigns of the last several years, that Latinos do actively participate in politics and are not afraid to raise their voice and exclaim, presente!  Undocumented Latino immigrants may not be able to vote, but their US-born children will have the opportunity to cast a ballot in the future, and due to the political economy of low-wage labor, Latinos are increasingly resettling to areas that are far from traditional urban centers, like Walla Walla, Washington. 

Although Dr. Fry’s quantitative analyses at the Pew Hispanic Center makes sense on some level, there is no denying that the cultural and political influence of Latinos is important now and will become even more critical in the future.  Yet there is more work to be done.  Adelante!