Democrats have long argued that “demographics are destiny,” meaning that the nation’s growing minority and immigrant population will ensure the Democrat Party’s long-term political dominance in America. But Hispanic voters in Florida delivered a powerful rebuttal to such an assertion, solidifying Florida’s transformation into a red state Tuesday night by helping reelect Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio by landslide margins. For those who have paid attention, Hispanic voters’ shift to the political right is not a one-time outlier but has been part of a decade-long trend.
The U.S. Census Bureau predicted that by 2050, Asians, Hispanics, Africans, and other minorities would make up most of the population. Democrats were convinced that such a demographic trend would cement their political destiny because their party had the monopoly of minority votes. In his book, “40 More Years: How Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation,” Democratic strategist James Carville declared that America’s demographic trend would keep Republicans out of power and Democrats in control for years to come.
President Obama’s two presidential election victories seemed to affirm the Democrats’ “demographics are destiny” assertion. Obama won his first presidential election in 2008 by winning a combined 80 percent of minority votes. For his reelection in 2012, Obama captured 93 percent of African American votes, 71 percent of Hispanic votes, and 71 percent of Asian American votes.
Minority voters also went to bat for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. About 79 percent of Asian American voters, 88 percent of African Americans, and 66 percent of Latinos supported Clinton.
In recent years, however, the Democrat Party’s hold on minority voters has waned, owing mainly to the party’s ideological shift and taking extreme positions on social and cultural issues. Ideologically, socialist talking heads such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Continue Reading at The Federalist.