Tequila for Latino Votes?
Apparently, California Republican candidates Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman unveiled a new method for attracting Latino voters: tequila shots. The Senate and gubernatorial candidates each took a shot of the Mexican spirit this weekend at the Hispanic 100 Lifetime Achievement Award Gala. Both candidates have struggled to attract support from Latino voters, who make up a sizable chunk of the state’s voting population, which MSNBC’s John Boxley claimed was the reason for the stunt.
Boxley doesn’t quote either candidate admitting her tequila shot was a Latino outreach move. Still, the concept of political posturing through liquor choices has a history in political campaigns: Then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took a shot of whiskey — Crown Royal — while on the campaign trail in 2008, and President Obama has been accused of drinking Bud Light as an effort to relate to working-class voters.