While the groups were conducted in English, they were moderated by a Spanish-speaking discussion leader of Hispanic descent.

Transcription

1 Table of Contents The Ronald Reagan Legacy and Leadership Opportunity... 3 The Immigration Debate: Right Principles, Wrong Approach... 5 The Economy: Moving Beyond Opportunity... 7 Education: The Great Equalizer... 9 Rethinking the Faith and Family Paradigm Appendix... 14

2 This body of work represents our firm s interest and commitment to better understanding Hispanic voters. We felt the dialogue about Hispanic voters needed to move beyond what is wrong with Republicans and into what is right, or how we move forward more productively. This is the beginning of what we hope will be a constructive process of challenging some commonly-held assumptions and an invitation to Republicans to think critically about our approach to Hispanic voters. Public Opinion Strategies conducted a set of special focus groups among Hispanic voters in Las Vegas, NV. Each group was conducted among 12 respondents for three hours, allowing us to use different projective techniques and dive much deeper into opinions and beliefs than traditional focus groups. We utilized relaxation and probing techniques to help participants access psychological imprinting about Republicans. We utilized collage-making and other techniques to allow participants to think freely using pictures and visual cues as opposed to a standard question-and-answer format. Our efforts were designed to allow more free-flowing, non-judgmental discourse to help deepen our understanding of Hispanic voters. While the groups were conducted in English, they were moderated by a Spanish-speaking discussion leader of Hispanic descent. Nicole McCleskey designed the research program for Public Opinion Strategies.

3 Hispanic Voters: The Ronald Reagan Legacy and Leadership Opportunity For many Hispanics born early enough to remember, Ronald Reagan provides some of their earliest and most positive memories of Republican. Our groups asked participants to search the recesses of their memories, and for many, the imprint of Ronald Reagan is one of their earliest and strongest memories. Words or phrases they use to describe Reagan include: family values, real connection to people, he had cojones, he didn t mess around and was respected by the world. Even those too young to remember Reagan personally have a similar sense from their conversations with family or their study of the Reagan era. The Reagan leadership style as described by these focus group participants parallels their generic description of what they look for in a leader or someone they would want to follow: Someone with a backbone. Someone with a voice, a strong person. Someone with values. Honesty Someone who can communicate with compassion Someone who can communicate across diverse cultures and has lived in their shoes. By these focus group respondents measure, Reagan met most of these leadership characteristics. Today s higher profile Republicans are too rich to really understand the working class that largely define the Hispanic community. One woman s very early imprint of Republican was the mansion where the owners of the meat packing plant lived who employed her father for just sixty cents an hour. But Democrats fall short on this leadership dimension as well, lacking the backbone or fortitude many in the group felt was essential in defining strong leadership. They really do not see Democrats as putting their foot down or digging in to deal with the important issues. Our focus groups showed video clips of speech segments of different Republican leaders from across the country. They saw Republicans talking about issues in ways they did not expect. Minds were opening. 3

4 Hispanic Voters: The Ronald Reagan Legacy and Leadership Opportunity These Hispanic voters were aware of Republican efforts to re-brand. They say the Republican Party is getting it and perhaps trying to change, even thinking beyond the old, white men that have come to define the party stereotype by looking to leaders like Marco Rubio, Brian Sandoval and Susana Martinez. But, they are also impressed with the conviction and passion of other non-hispanic Republicans as well, praising Governors Chris Christie and Jeb Bush for their respective comments about Medicaid expansion and education reform. Specifically, they see Christie as human, caring about his people, compassionate. They like how he calls it like he sees it and does what he thinks is right. But, they say he s just one person. For Republicans, perceptual change will mean a much greater personalization of our politics. Just like they felt connected to Ronald Reagan, today s Republicans need to connect better as real people, not party platforms. They were also drawn to Reagan s strength, honesty and conviction. While they may not have agreed with him on all issues, they appreciate a leader who makes them feel protected. The groups were encouraging in many ways. Sure, there was some Republican bashing. But we ve heard enough of that following this last election. Time to find a better way forward. And it is possible. 4

5 Hispanic Voters and The Immigration Debate: Right Principles, Wrong Approach The very word immigration puts Hispanic Americans on edge. They know we re talking about them, and they worry. When someone of Spanish-speaking descent hears the word immigration, they brace for the worst. As these respondents say. immigration means brown people. ALL brown people. If they are white it does not matter who is speaking, Republican or Democrat. One participant in our group said, I feel like they are talking to me even though I was born here. People think that because you are Spanish you are not supposed to be here. The immigration issue does not necessarily affect our participants all of our participants were American citizens. But, they say the issue is important because it reflects on us. And the challenge for Republicans is that many of these Hispanic voters believe that Republicans want to close the border. Participants in our groups point to policies in Arizona as evidence of a targeted attempt to intimidate and harass Hispanics, American or not. They say they know people who claim to have been profiled in Arizona. And then there are the Arizona Minutemen whom participants in these groups associate with Republicans. Deciphering the code is not difficult Republicans don t want us here. On the other hand, Democrats are the party of the DREAM Act, which is what our focus group participants agreed was an opportunity for the next generation. The code is also not difficult to decipher Democrats want us here. But, when it comes to immigration reform, the principles they outline themselves sound shockingly Republican. Or at least ideas that Republicans could support. Some of the policies these voters prefer include: Border control Accountability in citizenship, no shortcuts. Learn the language you re an American. No criminal background. The residency process needs to be simpler and less expensive. 5

6 Hispanic Voters and The Immigration Debate: Right Principles, Wrong Approach So when the outline of a Gang of Eight Plan is introduced, they are quite supportive as they believe it is a very reasonable approach. While some goals of recent Republican efforts might have been on target (border control), the mechanism for implementation may have left Hispanics feeling alienated or humiliated. We also showed our groups a clip of a speech given recently by Senator Rand Paul introducing his immigration reform plan. Click here to view the clip. For many, it sounded almost too good to be true. They found it more difficult to believe him because it was so far from what they would have expected. While they were largely on board with his approach to immigration, there are some other lessons from the Senator Paul speech that include: 1. The personal stories Senator Paul shares are important. They feel he wants to do the right thing, and he cares. It personalizes the issue. 2. When we talk about immigration, we need to talk about ALL races, not just Mexicans. 3. Words need to be followed with a plan of action. 4. Be careful on pushing the taxpayer line. While citizenship, in fact, will create a new generation of taxpayers, it reminded these Hispanic voters that Republicans care more about money than they do about people. 5. Emphasize that it s the right thing to do. They want to feel that your conviction comes from principle and a core as opposed to a more transparent attempt to secure votes. Handling the immigration debate properly is essential to opening the door for Republicans in the Hispanic community. It says a lot about the value we place on Hispanic Americans. After discussion and watching the speech, some of these Hispanic voters say Republicans are changing and will work to help and they are looking out for the future of the country. That s a much better place for us to be. 6

7 Hispanic Voters and The Economy: Moving Beyond Opportunity Our focus group respondents generally felt more aligned with Democrats on economic issues. These feelings stem from a sense that Democrats are out for the working class, while Republicans are the party of the rich. We have heard a lot about this class divide leading up to and following this most recent election. Participants were asked to create collages representing the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, and much of the focus of the collage exercise was on the class divide. Some examples of the collages are in the Appendix. In the simplest terms, Republicans are viewed as hurting people like themselves while Democrats are viewed as helping. So, when Republicans start talking about the economy, we re already behind the eight ball because whatever we are saying is being viewed through a perceptual filter not to our advantage. These Hispanic voters assumed that whatever a Republican might say will naturally be to the advantage of the wealthy and hurt the working class. We then showed them a video of a portion of Governor Susana Martinez s State of the State speech using some different language. Not many of our respondents had heard or seen Governor Martinez from neighboring New Mexico prior to our groups. Click here to view the clip. The reaction? Comments following the video segment include: I thought she was a Democrat because Republicans don t think like that. She sounded more like she was for the small person. I felt like she was helping the little guy. Surprised to hear fair share. It signals change on their part. 7

8 Hispanic Voters and The Economy: Moving Beyond Opportunity In fact, the policies that were the focal point of the speech were firmly embedded in Republican principles of lower taxes and helping small businesses grow so they can create jobs. But, it was the language she used that went beyond the traditional opportunity refrain in common practice among Republicans. Stressing the importance of lowering tax rates for all businesses to level the playing field with surrounding states signals equality among people, rather than government picking winners and losers. Governor Martinez is not guaranteeing equal outcomes but does seem to promote equal opportunity for all to be successful. Opportunity cannot just exist for the wealthy and powerful, and right now, that is what these Hispanic voters believe. The link Governor Martinez makes between education and the economy is also an important one. Not only among these focus group participants, but also in surveys, Hispanic voters put a premium on education. It is the gateway to a better life for the next generation. Given the primacy of education, our groups dedicated a section to exploring reactions to a Jeb Bush speech on reform objectives. 8

9 Hispanic Voters and Education: The Great Equalizer One feature of this last election in the minds of the Hispanic voters in our focus groups Democrats were the party willing to help you again and give you loans so that everyone can afford to go to college. Republicans by default were cast in the role of bad guy out to hurt average Americans by denying them access to greater opportunity. On K-12 education issues, the differences were less clear to our focus group participants. They could not even say for certain which party was for charter schools or vouchers. Yet, they tell us in the groups that education is an issue they care about DEEPLY as the pathway to a better life. We showed them a video clip of former Governor Jeb Bush talking about his success as Governor transforming the education system in Florida. Click here to view this clip. Here is what the participants say: He s trying to make it equal. He s not for the higher or lower class. All people can become somebody in life with education. Sounding more like they re [Republicans] for the people. It s certainly what these Hispanic voters consider surprising stuff. Not being satisfied with the poor remaining poor, or finding unacceptable the achievement gap between Anglo and African American or Hispanic students hearing it from a Republican is powerfully new information. There s a common theme starting to weave its way through these recent blog pieces and it has to do with this simple notion of equality. Outcomes may not be equal, but the opportunities should be. Everyone deserves a fair shake no matter their start in life. And, education is the greatest equalizer of all. 9

10 Hispanic Voters and Education: The Great Equalizer Governor Bush also has a leadership style they appreciate straight-forward, strong, and a passion they can feel. The idea that we can t always live in namby-pamby Land when it comes to doing what s right is on-target with what these groups expect from their leaders on an issue they care about so deeply. Just as they commented following the Governor Martinez video clip, these participants comment following Bush s video segment, I didn t know Republicans were like that. 10

11 Hispanic Voters: Rethinking the Faith and Family Paradigm Republicans have become fond of saying in various forms: Hispanic voters should be with us because of our shared social values, or, we are the party of faith and family which are important to Hispanic voters. In our Hispanic voter focus groups, the value of family was center stage. It was one of the defining variables that differentiate Anglo values from Hispanic values. They talk about how Hispanic culture is more family oriented and close knit, the feeling that they actually want to keep their kids around after they are 18, a sense that there is greater parental involvement and respect in the Hispanic culture. Family is the central focus of life you rally around your family members, your cousin is your brother. Blood is very, very thick. But, our focus group participants are perplexed when we ask if they feel Republicans are more likely to share their values of faith and family because they do not see either party as having cornered the market on faith or family. The most recent NBC/Wall Street Journal survey conducted by Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies and Fred Yang of Hart Research with its national oversample of Hispanic voters helps shed some additional light on this values conundrum. A most interesting sequence asks voters how closely they feel aligned to the Republican and Democratic parties on their approach to social and cultural issues. By a rather staggering margin, Hispanic voters are much more likely to say they agree more with Democrats: Using a scale from 1 to 5 where 5 means that you totally agree and 1 means that you totally disagree, please tell me how closely you agree with the Republican Party/Democratic Party. 11

12 Hispanic Voters: Rethinking the Faith and Family Paradigm The crosstabs offer little solace as we find that just roughly one-quarter of the more socially conservative Hispanics (those who consider themselves Right-to-Life) agree with Republicans on social and cultural issues while more agree with Democrats. How can this be? From the same NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, we find that a majority of Hispanics (56%) prefer to define marriage as between one man and one woman compared to the 36% who prefer a definition that includes same sex marriages. And, on abortion, 42% of Hispanic voters believe it should be illegal with exceptions and 21% believe it should be illegal without any exceptions. That s nearly two-thirds of Hispanic voters who are more aligned with a more pro-life point of view. Both, of course, would lead one to the reasonable conclusion that Hispanics should be more aligned with the traditional platform of the Republican Party. But wait. Maybe social and cultural values means something other than abortion and gay marriage to Hispanic voters. The survey asks when you hear the phrase social and cultural issues, what does it mean to you? The answers among Hispanics are as revealing as they are different from their Anglo voter counterparts, as well as from Republicans. We use a word cloud demonstration to make the point the size of the font corresponds to the frequency of mentions. 12

13 Hispanic Voters: Rethinking the Faith and Family Paradigm What Social and Cultural Issues Mean Among Anglos: What Social and Cultural Issues Mean Among Republicans: What Social and Cultural Issues Mean Among Hispanics: Hispanic voters and the Republican Party are just not on the same page when talking about social issues. Republicans could very well just be missing the point and talking straight past Hispanic voters. It s no wonder Hispanic voters are perplexed when Republicans insist we share the same values. 13

14 The collage exercise was an opportunity for participants to communicate non-verbally their feelings about the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Each participant selected words, images or other representations from magazines and posted their assorted pictures on a single sheet of paper. Across the collages, what participants commonly conveyed about the Republican Party: Republicans are rich. Republicans care more about power. All about business Strict in their religious beliefs. Strong on military/defense issues (generally a positive association) Across the collages, what participants commonly conveyed about the Democratic Party: You see every race, diversity. For poor people. Focus on education and health care. Hope; anyone can succeed like Obama and Clinton.

15 Hispanic Voters: Republican Collages 15

16 Hispanic Voters: Democrat Collages 16

17 Public Opinion Strategies 214 N. Fayette St. Alexandria, VA Nicole McCleskey, Partner