Wooing Latino Voters, Politicians Risk Blunders

The Takeaway

Today’s political candidates are increasingly savvy in their attempts to targeting Spanish-speaking voters. But as attempts to court Latino voters have become increasingly commonplace, so have cultural blunders. A noteworthy example from a past election: When Gerald Ford was running in 1976, he bit into a tamale at a campaign stop without first removing the inedible corn husk. Whoops.
Jude Joffe-Block  is senior field correspondent for Fronteras, a multimedia collaboration focusing on the southwestern border between Mexico and the United States, led by KJZZ in Phoenix and KPBS  in San Diego. Ruben Navarette  is a nationally-syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group.

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.