Demography, as National Right to Life’s Luis Zaffirini recently noted, may not be destiny for the Democratic Party after all. With pundits long relying on the Democratic leanings of Hispanic voters, Texas circa 2014 seemed primed for a smashing Wendy Davis success on the Democratic ticket. With our increasingly Hispanic (aka Democrat) voter base and orange crowds of angry mobsters, support for the abortion queen was guaranteed… or so they thought. The Dems failed to see one factor of enormous importance: Hispanics are Pro-Life.
Last November, Texas Right to Life launched a series of truth-telling radio ads in both English and Spanish educating gubernatorial race voters about Wendy’s extreme anti-Life abortion agenda (the agenda from which Wendy conspicuously distanced herself during the campaign). Zaffirini shared the results of the ads, which had a marked impact on border counties that are overwhelmingly Democrat: “Despite vigorous and expensive voter registration and get-out-the-vote programs by Battleground Texas, Wendy Davis’ support among Latino voters dropped by 6% compared to the 2010 governor’s race. In all border counties, support for her dropped an average of 5%.”
Zaffirini pointed to solid statistical evidence that helps to explain the outcome we saw in Texas. This research indicates that the Pro-Life worldview is one major area causing Hispanic divergence from the otherwise ascribed-to Democratic Party platform. Zaffirini states:
More than a quarter of the Hispanic respondents said that abortion was a critical issue to them, the largest percentage of all the ethnicities. They were most likely to view abortion as morally wrong. 55% also said that abortion should not be covered by most healthcare plans.
The issue of the changing electorate was echoed in an article written by Democratic strategist and former Clinton political director Doug Sosnick titled “America’s Hinge Moment.” It was primarily an elaboration on the “States of Change” report produced by the Center for American Progress, American Enterprise Institute, and The Brookings Institution. The report focused on the ascendance of the millennial vote and ultimately of the minority vote in a future, minority-majority America.
Additionally, a brand new survey found that Hispanics are Pro-Life across age groups, with over half of Hispanic Millennials reporting that abortion should be illegal all the time or most of the time.
With liberal Millennials and minorities leaning fiscally Democratic but socially Republican (at least on Life issues like abortion), we’ve wondered: is America headed toward a shift in Party identification? Subscribers to the traditional “Republican” and “Democrat” labels often carry with them so many caveats on their stance that the efficacy of the two Parties may be weakened as a result. Regardless of the evolution of American Party lines, one thing is clear: the import of the Pro-Life ethic cannot be underestimated any longer.