Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who serves on the Romney campaign’s Hispanic Steering Committee, said this morning that “in the swing states where the entire campaign is focused, I think you’re going to see the Hispanic numbers getting much better for Governor Romney.”
But, he cautioned, the Republican Party has a potential “long-term” problem when it comes to Latino support.
“Democrats and the president have been very good with their rhetoric. Unfortunately their results haven’t been great because if you look at, for example, increase in poverty among Hispanics,” Diaz-Balart said on CNN.
“Hispanic children now make the largest group of children in poverty,” he added. “So, the policies haven’t been great, the rhetoric by the Democrats has been much better. The policies on the Republican side have been much better for Hispanics, for minorities, but the rhetoric, unfortunately, has not.”
The congressman wouldn’t make a flat-out prediction of how his state is going to turn tomorrow.
“It’s going to be close. You know, I keep hearing about all these polls,” Diaz-Balart said. “The only poll obviously that matters is the last one, the one that’s counted after all the votes are cast.”
He does believe 2008 passion for President Obama has been sapped by the economy.
“And you just saw that unemployment picked up, again, it’s worse than it was when the president took office. Therefore, I think the passion just frankly isn’t there for him,” the congressman said.
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