Biden Visits Florida in Hope to Resolve Struggle with Latino Voters
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden stepped up his reach to Latino voters in Florida, a key voting bloc, as polls showed his struggle to gain support.
Since securing his presidential nomination, Biden's first campaign event took place near Orlando on Tuesday. It was tied to the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, noted Wall Street Journal.
Trump won Florida by a slight margin of only one percentage point in 2016, and polls on the state also show a tight race between him and Biden this year.
Latino voters make up about 20% of Florida's voting body according to Pew Research Center.
Biden is looking for ways to make his case on education, health care, immigration and COVID-19. He's looking for ways to appeal to Latino voters and their community, as they were badly hit by the virus.
Despite his efforts, a poll from NBC News/Marist showed that Trump is earning more support at 50% compared to Biden who is lagging at 46%.
A Quinnipiac poll also showed that Trump is leading Latino voters compared to Biden across the state.
A Bendixen and Amandi poll showed that Trump has 47% support of likely Latino voters, while Biden stands at 46%. It was conducted from September 1 to 4 in left-leaning Miami-Dade County.
Biden is looking forward to an uphill battle in attracting Cuban voters. But he also seeks strength in support among Puerto Ricans, said CBS News. Puerto Rican voters make up a large portion of Florida's voting population.
Miami-based pollster Fernand Amandi said Biden should not have had trouble with Florida. In fact, it is the largest county for Democratic votes in Florida.
But Amandi stressed that if Biden does not perform well in Miami, it could hurt his chances of winning in Florida. Amandi added that this is the likely case unless there is a "massive white voter exodus in other parts of the state.
Both Trump and Biden are now in the final stretch to win Florida. But most public statewide surveys still show that Biden is either overpowered or is leading by a small margin.
In recent elections, Latino voters have shown themselves as a key swing bloc. So getting them on a candidate's side does help sway their numbers.
Biden Is Not Doing Enough
Other people have questioned Biden's campaign in reaching out to Latinos. Many believe that Biden is not doing enough to help up his votes in the swing bloc.
Chuck Rocha, a former senior adviser in Senator Bernie Sanders' campaigns, said that Biden was lagging behind because of "lack of money." He did not have enough funding from his campaign to reach Latino voters.
"The fact of the matter is there's just not money going to take that message to Latinos as there needs to be," he said.
Javier Fernandez, who is running for the state Senate, also noted that there isn't much enthusiasm for Biden. This is most true among Latino voters in Florida.
"I don't know that they're super excited about Joe Biden," Fernandez said.
The past few weeks have been Trump's time to appeal to Latino voters. He took part in a Latinos for Trump roundtable in Phoenix on Monday.
Biden has likewise faced criticism when it comes to anti-immigration issues. During the Obama administration, there was a high number in deportations.
But Biden said he regrets deporting migrants without criminal records under Obama.
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