It appears the Koch brothers are officially getting their hands in the 2016 presidential election. In Miami, Florida, massive crowds lined up around a megachurch to attend Sunday services and receive free flu shots. The mostly imporverished, Hispanic crowd also showed up to collect turkeys that the church was giving away for Thanksgiving. However, before receiving anything, the crowd was asked certain questions about the 2016 election. These included: Were they more likely to vote for a Republican or a Democrat in the election, and did they feel that the government should increase or decrease federal spending in order to improve the economy? This event, organized by the Libre Initiative, illustrates the ethos of the organization.
The Koch brothers, who have backed this organization, believe that they can spread the principles of small government and personal freedom through outreach programs such as this.
As the New York Times reports, the Koch brothers are attempting to fill a void in the demographics that generally support Republican candidates. In the last presidential election, for instance, Mitt Romney won only 27 percent of the Hispanic vote. As this demographic continues to grow, and vote, the Republicans can no longer pretend that this isn't an issue.
Unlike the policies of current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, Libre supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. The organization went as far as to spend over one million dollars on ads expressing their support for the Senate's 2013 Immigration plan. This has pitted Libre against many conservative voters in the Republican base. However, the Koch's feel it is more necessary to win over the votes of Hispanics than to placate its more vitriolic base.
However, the group has still caused controversy among Hispanic voters, and has come up short in its outreach program. Craig Hughes, a Democratic strategist, told the New York Times, "The question is, does an aggressive outreach and relationship-building program help them when their candidates are at such odds with the population? I am highly doubtful, but I never underestimate the impact of a massive amount of money in politics."
