In response to some comments made elsewhere, I have done a complete analysis of that 2007 FIU poll and what it shows and what it doesn’t show before. That analysis is here. I’m not going to rehash it. But I do want to point out that my theory is that by the time Cuban “new arrivals” become citizens and register to vote that there is a window for them to change their minds. I want to emphasize this point because I believe it’s not about which wave you came in from a cultural standpoint that’s important, but how long you have lived in the US (among the exile community) that matters. There’s a difference. One view says that these people arrive with certain views and that they will always be the same while the other view believes that the culture you are acquiring is just as important as the one you left behind. And since voters are the bosses of the politicians it would behoove the people who are claiming this disunity to look into what happens from the moment a person arrives penniless to the time they are citizens and registered voters.
I’ll leave you with a statistic that backs up some of the arguments I’ve been making. When it comes to supporting military action by exile community to overthrow the Cuban government the latest wave of Cuban exiles (1995-2007) says:
Strongly favor: 56.9%
Mostly favor: 14.9%
Total favor: 71.8%
That compares favorably to the total sample from all waves of which 70.8% favor (58.5% Strongly and 12.3 mostly) such an action.
It seems like to me that a candidate that really wants to capture the hearts and minds of the vast majority of Cuban exiles would promise that if elected the US stop preventing an exile attempt to overthrow the castro regime.
…an island on the net without a bearded dictator
