Bush's Hard Line Loses Cuban Moderates

[ryban]

After the 2000 presidential election, Cuban-American bragged that they put President Bush in the White House—and with good reason. Bush won Florida, and therefore the presidency, thanks in large part to capturing 82 percent of the Cuban-American vote.

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The heat seemed to pay off when Bush took Florida again this year. But closer scrutiny of the numbers shows that a growing number of some Cuban-American voters, the GOP's most reliable Latino base, walked away from Bush.

In voting precincts with more than 75 percent Hispanics, there was “between a 3 and a 5 percent shift in the Cuban vote toward the Democrats,” according to Dario Moreno, a Cuban-American politics expert at Florida International University. In Miami-Dade County, where 75 percent of Hispanic voters are Cuban-American, the elections department claims that Bush slipped 10 percentage points compared to 2000.

Anecdotal evidence fleshes out what the numbers hint at -- current U.S. Cuba policy is out of touch with a growing segment of Cuban-Americans. To some it is simply stuck; to others it is working against their interests and those of family members in Cuba.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43237-2004Nov11.html

[aquart]

1. If the Cubans walked, where did the votes come from????

Just asking.

[bluestatewannabe]

3. The disaffected Cuban votes probably did not go to the Democrats.

Those who are disgusted with Bush probably went back to Cuba to be with their families where they will have social equality. Thus it did not translate to Democrat votes.

[Lefty48197]

2. The Cuban-Americans still voted for Bush, and they got what they asked for

No more visits with their family, and no more American dollars sent to their family members in Cuba. Enjoy!