The Latino Wave
How Hispanics Are Transforming Politics in America
Chapter OneMaking History:
How Latinos Decided the 2000
Presidential Election
The Latino vote put George W. Bush into the White House. Which is
no great surprise, considering that he occasionally refers to himself as
"Jorge Bush."
Bush knew that Hispanic voters were different from whites,
blacks, and Asians, and he treated them differently. It's thanks to this
that he won Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, and Florida. Put another
way, Bush won 5 of the 10 states where over 10 percent of the
population is of Latin origin. The 2000 White House was won with
an accurately targeted political strategy that proved critical in his
victory over Al Gore. Bush had good reason to focus his efforts on
Latinos. They -- and no other minority -- gave him the final push he
needed to reach the White House.
Bush has never underestimated the growing importance of the
Hipanic vote. When he first won the election to be governor of Texas
in 1994, he did so with 29 percent of the Hispanic vote, which was
enough to defeat ... read full excerpt from The Latino Wave ebook
