Donald Trump: the Democrat maker?

Hillary Clinton is lagging badly in the polls, but that does not matter as long as Donald Trump remains in the race to become the Republican Party nominee. That’s because ‘The Donald’ is the best thing that has occurred to the Democrats in 70 years.

It’s hard for a national party to win three consecutive terms. In the last 115 years that feat only has occurred three times. The first was from 1921 to 1933, when three different Republicans lived in the White House. Then came Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who achieved an unprecedented fourth term in office. He was followed by another Democrat, Harry Truman. The last party to do it was the GOP, when George H. W. Bush followed Ronald Regan in 1988.

{mosads}No Democratic nominee has won a third term since 1948. Former vice president Al Gore failed to follow Bill Clinton in 2000. It’s ironic that another Clinton will try to break the jinx.

On paper, Hillary should have no chance of succeeding President Barack Obama. The normal fatigue that comes from a two-term presidency, coupled with a strong Republican victories in 2012 and 2014, would have buried any opportunity. But along came Trump.

Since the announcement of his candidacy, Trump has done nothing but repeatedly offend core Democratic voters, particularly Latinos.

The block of voters Trump has alienated since June is growing exponentially. Just under a million Latino U.S. citizens turn 18 each year. By the time November 2016 comes, there will be almost 16.7 million Latinos registered to vote.

Despite the large numbers, the Hispanic voter turnout rate actually declined between 2008 and 2012, from 49.9 percent to 48 percent, according to the Pew Research Center. ‘The Donald’ will reverse that trend, and then some.

Because of Trump’s bombastic positions regarding immigrants, Democratic advocates have called on Hispanics to show their anger at the Republicans in the polls. Trump has rankled the Hispanic community from Day One of his presidential run when he called many illegal Mexican immigrants “rapists” and drug peddlers, among other things.

Trump is also leaving a mark on the Republican brand that will be hard to shed come 2016. In a recent campaign stop, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) associated Latinos with a hotel maid he talked to when he needed soap. It took Clinton just minutes to respond, tweeting, in Spanish about Kasich’s comments, saying they were the product of the ‘Party of Trump.’

In the end, Trump could be assuring his party’s failure in trying to woo Latino voters.

Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), two of the most prominent Republicans running for the White House, have recently visited Puerto Rico with the hopes of enticing voters. Even Clinton has touched down on the Island. Trump has yet to make the trip.

While Bush, Rubio and Clinton have drawn good crowds, it will be a good bet that Trump will not receive a warm welcome in Puerto Rico. The same should hold true in many states with large Hispanic populations such as Florida, Texas, New Mexico, California and Arizona.

The number of Republicans in Puerto Rico, a U.S. Territory since 1898, is growing, as many are inclined to follow the GOP’s vision regarding the role of the government, for example. In 2008, Puerto Ricans elected their first Republican governor in Luis Fortuño. These substantial gains, made through decades of sacrifice and hard work, are now in jeopardy.

The Republican selected to run for president will need to get at least 30 percent of the Hispanic vote. That’s a high mountain to climb for the GOP considering that Mitt Romney received just 23 percent of the Latino vote in 2012.

Incredible as it may sound, the party that has tried hard to woo Latinos voters since the 2012 defeat, could lose them all thanks to ‘The Donald’.

In the end, Trump is not the best, but the only thing that the Democrats have going for them in this election cycle.

Rodriguez-Miranda is a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives.