The following is a staff commentary.

Some new polling from USA TODAY/Suffolk University this month revealed that President Joe Biden's support among Hispanics has dropped from 65 percent to 34, an amazing shift.

 

Why? 

 

The answer is obvious.

 

Hispanics are suffering just like everyone else. Inflation is impacting them considerably, just like any other American.  

 

Karine Jean-Pierre can't spin that one.

 

A month ago, CNN spoke to a Hispanic woman who said she has to work three jobs to survive in the Biden economy. The woman basically said the President hasn't kept his promises.

 

A Latino man in the CNN report said other Latinos feel it was easier to make ends meet under the Trump administration.

 

Former President Trump now leads Biden with 39 percent support from Hispanics; according to this poll, Biden stands at 34.

 

While those numbers are good for Trump, it's astonishing to me that he has been unable to grab a larger amount of Latino support. But this isn't a total surprise.

 

Republicans have done an abysmal job of understanding the Hispanic community.

 

Democrats have a simplistic, sometimes patronizing, approach to Hispanics, but they have their messaging down.

 

Republicans still don't know who they're talking to.

 

Remember this: we are not all the same.

 

If you want some honesty, the Latino grouping doesn't make sense. Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are different. Cubans are different. Spanish and some foods are the only real things in common.

 

Data from the Pew Research Center in 2019 says Latinos prefer to be identified by country of origin versus Hispanic or Latino, 47 percent to 39 percent. Fourteen percent prefer American.

 

It's easy to say we should all identify as American, but like some Americans proud of their Irish or Italian ancestry, a person who originates from Mexico or Cuba prefers that over the Latino/Hispanic descriptor. So, please move forward with the conversation.

 

Here are some other Pew facts that are important to keep in mind.

 

• Fifty-three percent of Hispanics see themselves as "typical" Americans.
• In 2019, 55 percent of adult Hispanics were born in the U.S.  
• Nearly 60 percent of Hispanics were of Mexican origin.
• Forty-three percent of Latinos identify as Catholic.

 

So why don't conservatives or Donald Trump plead their case? It can be in English, just like it would to any other American.

 

Catholic Hispanics probably feel strongly about issues like abortion. Or why not focus on Mexican-Americans?

 

What about the border?

 

"We didn't cross the border; the border crossed us" is a mantra now used by the left but with some truth in it.

 

A large part of this country was once Mexico. Not every Mexican-American or Latino crossed the border. 

 

So why are you talking to every Latino in the same manner?

 

The southern border is an important issue, and everyone should be concerned. But why is it treated as the only Hispanic issue?

 

Donald Trump has had his "missteps" with Hispanics.  

 

I cringe thinking about the "taco bowl" Cinco de Mayo tweet of 2016.

 

He wasn't helped when his Latino spokesman put forth his fear of taco trucks on every corner.

 

But, Jill Biden described Mexican-Americans as "breakfast tacos" in 2022, I wrote about it.

 

There is a political obsession with tacos! Both sides can't help themselves.

 

In my opinion, most Hispanics are likely to laugh it off as a gaffe if it gets less expensive to live again.

 

The economy outweighs the border and is a primary concern among Hispanics. This new polling reflects that.