Cuban Americans become a less reliable Republican bloc

“Fidel Castro’s exit from the world stage – an eventuality that gained renewed urgency with his relinquishing of presidential power last week – could shake up decades of Republican dominance among Cuban-American voters.

South Florida’s large Cuban-American population has long been one of the party’s most loyal constituencies, rallied to political events by cries of “Cuba si, Castro no.” At least 8 in 10 of Florida’s nearly half-million Cuban-American voters backed President Bush in 2000, when he won the state by just 537 votes, though a survey after the 2004 election showed a slip.

But as the number of hard-line exiles declines – replaced by second- and third-generation Cuban-Americans, who polls show are more concerned with pocketbook issues than foreign policy – some suggest that the loss of Castro’s visage could erode the potency of the voting bloc.”

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