Mike Madrid, a top Latino GOP strategist, says there are three key issues the Harris-Walz campaign must focus on to win over Republicans, these "three messages are far more important than the messengers," and if they do so they will "win the race."
Madrid, a Lincoln Project co-founder, is a veteran political consultant and one of the country’s authoritative experts on Latino voters. He is also the author of, "The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy."
In an interview with The Independent, Madrid warned, "the Latino vote looks like it’s going to keep getting stronger" for Trump.
"Madrid," The Independent reports, "attributed the growing strength for Trump among Latinos to years of inept Democratic messaging that assumed immigration — ensuring a compassionate attitude towards migrants from South and Central America — was a priority for voters who had roots in that part of the world."
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“We’ve never been interested in immigration. It’s just this political and media narrative that the Democrats have been driving,” he said.
And he warns the Harris campaign is in “deep, deep trouble” in both Arizona and Nevada. The current FiveThirtyEight polling average puts Harris up by one point in Nevada and Trump up by one point in Arizona. Nationally, Harris is up just 2.6 percentage points over Trump.
“Demographically, the shift of North Carolina has made it far more important than Arizona," he says, "so that if Harris wins North Carolina and Pennsylvania, there’s virtually no roadmap for Trump.”
Madrid believes Harris must focus on suburban women and college-educated voters.
“It’s gonna be the largest gender gap in the history of the country, and it’s correlated into the diploma divide," he says. "What’s keeping her competitive is she is increasing the margins with college-educated women, and that includes Hispanic women, white women, African American women — all women with degrees are opening up this gap.”
He also warns Democrats to stop focusing so much on Republican "turncoats," like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Alyssa Farah Griffin, to promote their message.
Madrid says Republicans don't need someone telling them it's OK to vote for Harris.
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"You do not need a permission structure to defend your body or your country," he says on social media. "I’m deeply honored & grateful for those Republicans who have the courage to step forward against Trump. Everything helps at this moment. But let’s be clear - we’re way past a ‘permission structure’."
"We’re not selling toothpaste folks," he continues. "The threat to our country and our rights is existential and that’s why 17-20% of Republicans were peeling off Trump - before Nikki Haley, before Liz Cheney, before the convention. Republican defections will win this race for Harris but…We should not put politicians, personalities or pundits in front of the issues proven to move Republican voters. That’s called stepping on your message. Lead with what has proven to work. Lead with the three things that jarred GOP voters out of their haze."
"There are three issues proven to move Republican voters past ‘The Bannon Line’ from 2020," Madrid writes. They are, the January 6 insurrection, Trump's "Big Lie" about voter fraud and a "rigged" election, and the Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion:
"January 6
The Big Lie
Dobbs
Focus on these three issues and you win the race. Harris can pass the Bannon line and get a record number of Republican votes."
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