EXTRA: It will be interesting to see who takes Latino vote come Tuesday

Much of the political attention to be paid next week to the Latino share of the electorate likely will go toward Florida to see if that state’s significant Cubano population will go for hometown boy Marco Rubio, or will dump him for Donald Trump.

Bernie Sanders paired up with Jesus Garcia

But in Illinois, we’ll also have to see how things turn out. Not that many Latinos (who comprise just over a quarter of Chicago’s population) will care much about Trump or Rubio or Ted Cruz or any of those Republican goofs.

HERE, IT WILL be a battle to see how Latinos turn out and who on the Democratic side will they care about.

Will Hillary Clinton win Illinois because she’s able to keep a sizable share of the Latino voters who backed her in so many past campaigns (including in 2008 for president. If it had been up to Latino voters, Hillary would be finishing her eight years in office – and we’d have never given Barack Obama much thought).

Or can Bernie Sanders manage to swipe Latino voters away from Hillary? Will he manage to convince Latinos that Hillary is way too comfortable with the Wall Street types? And that the only ones of us who’d vote for Hillary have some sort of self-hatred streak in them?

Except for those few Latinos (I’ve met a couple) who seriously plan to cast ballots for Trump himself! Talk about knuckleheads.

I GOT REMINDED of this in my mail – a campaign flyer reminding me that the senator from Vermont is also the child of immigrants who had to work his way up through life.

Sanders and the other Jesus

And also made sure to include photographs taken from that Chicago appearance Sanders made with Cook County Board member (and failed mayoral candidate) Jesus Garcia. Not that we need any wisecracks now about those fliers touting comparisons between Sanders and the son of God himself.

They do remind us that there’s at least one Mexican immigrant who’d rather see Sanders as president compared to the return of the House of Clinton to the White House. While subtly pleading for more Latinos to join on board.

CRUZ: GOP establishment fave?

It might get a few votes.  But I’m still wondering how many Latinos who take the time to be politically aware are so anxious to be a part of the establishment that the idea of the Socialist label will be too much for them to contemplate.

EVEN IF THEY’RE the types like my late grandparents who worked in factory jobs and weren’t unfamiliar with the concept of paying union dues.

We have one more week to go before all of this becomes a moot point, and I have to admit that the concept of increased Latino political empowerment does cause me to chuckle at the thought of the Governor’s Dinner to be held Friday at the Palmer House Hilton.

The event is meant to be a fundraiser to back Republican Party campaign efforts in Illinois, and all the presidential dreamers were invited. Thus far, the only one to accept is Cruz. (Trump will be busy with his University of Illinois-Chicago rally that day).

Cruz (Cuban on his father’s side of the family) is expected to “give remarks” at the GOP event, and could be the focus of the Republican elite who bother to pay for their plates. While the bulk of Latinos are more likely to take Sanders seriously than Cruz.

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