The 2024 Trump campaign is the best he has run: professional, detail-oriented, and resonant. Still, much work remains to be done in the election’s closing days to secure a victory.

The best basketball players dribble with both hands—right and left. On the issue of the economy, the candidate and his campaign have done an exceptional job dribbling with both hands, showing Mr. Trump’s understanding of a policy’s intricacies (right hand) and empathy for the people impacted (left hand)—i.e., making the case how VP Harris was a blank check for Bidenomics that is destroying your American Dream.

The strongest evidence for this is the Harris campaign response of lying about a “Trump Tax,” pretending to be right-of-center tax cutters, and hoping voters refuse to believe the patent fact that V.P. Harris has been, well, V.P. for this disastrous administration. Yes, it is election season, and, once again, the Progressives are so proud of their radical, extreme, and dangerous agenda that they deny they are… progressive. Go figure.

Building upon this success, in the home stretch of the campaign, on their part, the former president and his team remain focused on courting a critical electoral population—Hispanics, the largest minority in America.

In appealing to Hispanic voters, the Trump campaign has made a dedicated, effective effort. Indeed, overall, Mr. Trump is on the cusp of again earning more minority votes than any Republican presidential nominee in decades (including himself). This is in no small part a testament to the creativity and competency of his campaign team and, of course, to the political instincts and skills of the former president. Again, however, there are more inroads to be trod and votes to earn.

On illegal immigration, Mr. Trump dribbles exceptionally well with his right hand by addressing the issue and, in general, its impact. He has long condemned the Biden-Harris administration’s open border policies and the overall devastation of illegal immigration—including the increasing instances of America’s enemies cruelly weaponizing mass migration to imperil our national security. He has made the case that V.P. Harris is a rubber stamp for open borders and its calamitous impacts.

Once again, Mr. Trump’s success is evinced by the Democrats’ calumnies on the issue. The left claims that opponents of open borders are xenophobic haters who want to stop all immigration to our nation. This is a lie. The opponents of open borders support orderly immigration, assimilation, and integration of legal migrants into the fabric of our nation. What is most damaging to immigrants who play by the rules and to the entire nation is the left’s open borders policy.

Thus, what is needed to further cut through the Democrat media complex’s distortions and smears on the issue and connect with Hispanic voters is an empathetic recognition that they often bear the first and worst brunt of Biden-Harris’s open border’s illegal immigration.

Recently, the Trump campaign has done exactly that at the Coachella, California, rally with a major assist from the Hon. Gloria Romero, a former Democrat and California state Senate Majority Leader. Per The Wall Street Journal:

‘The Democratic Party has taken all of us—and especially we Latinos and Latinas—for granted,’ Ms. Romero said on stage. ‘Inflation, lawlessness, and an open border, highest unemployment rate—[California is] second in the nation—groceries, gas, you name it…’

Her exasperation grew as the administration waved masses of migrants across the border, whom she says have especially burdened the communities of second- and third-generation Latino families. ‘Latinos are a very patriotic people,’ she says. ‘We believe that this is the greatest nation on earth. And citizenship matters…’

‘We are going to return America to its rightful place as the greatest nation on the earth…for all of our citizens.’

Importantly, Ms. Romero is well aware the left will attack Hispanics who dare stop toeing the progressive party line. But she is undaunted and defiant, and her words deserve to be heard in full:

The other side is going to try to scare you in the coming days because they are losing and fear is the only tool they can use. They are going to tell we are going to take things away from you. That we are not going to respect your rights. If anyone would know about not respecting others, it’s Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. No, we’re not going to do any of that. And we aren’t going to use fear to gain your vote. We’re going to make [you a] promise. We will work harder for you, your families, your friends and neighbors, for everyone, because the only way we make America great again is by us all working together. That is my solemn promise to you.

Ms. Romero knows the pain the Hispanic community is on the front line of suffering due to Biden-Harris’s “American Dream destroying” open borders: their wages are being depressed as they try to climb up the ladder of success; their schools and hospitals are being overcrowded; their social services are being depleted; their children and neighborhoods are being endangered and overrun by foreign criminal cartels and gangs.

Her appeal is one of understanding, empathy, and credibility. Consequently, in stark contrast to V.P. Harris, the Honorable Gloria Romero’s promise is an earnest, honest, and solemn appeal to her fellow Hispanics and, indeed, to all Americans. It is nothing less than a vow to redeem the American Dream, one the Honorable Gloria Romero and her candidate for president—Donald J. Trump—will fulfill for the Hispanic community and all Americans.

***

An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003-2012 and served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee. Not a lobbyist, he is a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars and a Monday co-host of the “John Batchelor Radio Show,” among sundry media appearances.