Ruy Teixeira explains Hispanic exodus from Democrats

Right after Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election Ruy Teixeira joined with John Judis to write "The Emerging Democratic Majority." Since the start of Substack, Teixeira has written more than a few Substack articles explaining Hispanics' exodus from the Democrat Party. This article is written for the Liberal Patriot but it's in keeping with Teixeira's Substack articles.

Teixeira didn't bury the lede, opening the article by saying "The release of the new data and report from Catalist has underscored the extent of Hispanic defection from the Democrats over the last two presidential cycles. We’ve seen massive drops in Democratic support from pretty much every subgroup of Hispanics, albeit with some variation: working-class Hispanics more than the college-educated, women (interestingly) more than men, younger Hispanics more than older ones, and urban residents more than those in the suburbs. But all the defections have been substantial—at least 22 margin points and usually much more between 2016 and 2024."

Then Teixeira goes into detail:

1. Hispanic moderates think the Democrats have moved too far left.
2. Hispanic moderates are hawkish on illegal immigration.
3. Hispanic moderates are tough on crime and supportive of law enforcement.
4. Hispanic moderates are opposed to Democrats’ stance on transgender issues.

The truth is that Democrats made the assumption that Hispanics were more liberal than they actually are. For instance:

Also in that survey, net support (support minus oppose) among Hispanic moderates for a proposal to “use existing presidential powers to stop illegal migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border" was 59 points (63 percent to 4 percent). Similarly, Hispanic moderates supported by 36 points restricting "the ability of migrants who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border to seek asylum." And they backed deputizing "the National Guard and local law enforcement to assist with rapidly removing gang members and criminals living illegally in the United States" by 34 points.

Those sound like awfully conservative positions. Major Garrett's interview of Mr. Teixeira is fascinating:

Apparently, Democrats aren't interested in learning new things. They keep trying to pound square pegs into smallish round holes. It's also fascinating to hear Mr. Teixeira talk about how AEI is more open to having discussions on issues that he disagrees eith them on they were at the Center for the American Experiment.

If Democrats don't change that, they'll be in the wilderness for quite some time.