THE LATINO CENTURY

A political consultant’s thoughts and predictions regarding America's increasing Latino population.

A self-proclaimed “political data guy,” Madrid, co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, has amassed compelling statistics on voters generally and Latino (the term the author prefers over Latinx, “a political term, not a community term”) voters in particular. The author attempts to synthesize decades of experience in service of understanding and engaging Latino voters, who have been ignored or taken for granted, misrepresented, and, perhaps most critically, left uncompelled by either of America’s major political parties to participate in the civic process. The first half of the text is a sort of political autobiography, outlining Madrid’s Republican identity forged in the Reagan era, his campaign work in his home state of California and on the national level—which reached a crescendo during George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign—and a defection from the GOP in the Trump years. Both Madrid's professional rise and his partisan disenchantment demonstrate his enthusiasm for the political process and his fervent belief in the power of the Latino community as a voting bloc. He issues calls to action for both Democrats and Republicans to acknowledge and court this power with aspirational messages and policies that address the needs of a rapidly assimilating group. However, chunks of text spent on details of political ad campaign purchases and quotes by the author in the press would have been better used fleshing out the meaning, context, and implications of Madrid’s data. The author struggles to convincingly support many of his most potentially insightful points—e.g., Latino voters’ rightward shift, ideas for engaging Latinos in swing states, and their relative prioritization of cultural or economic issues. Madrid’s detours stifle the potential for deeper analysis that he is in such a distinct position to provide.

Packed with interesting, useful information, but ultimately lacking cohesion.