FIU Poll on Cuban Americans

The Cuban Research Institute at FIU released its annual poll on Cuban-American views of Cuba policy. The results are not particularly surprising. Young people oppose the embargo more than older, a majority oppose it; a strong majority favors re-establishing diplomatic relations and lifting travel restrictions; a large majority say the embargo isn't working very well.

It bears repeating that demography matters a lot for understanding these views. Younger Cuban Americans just don't support the old-style punitive policies.

That's a lot of downward movement in the past 23 years and we can reasonably expect it to continue slowly sloping. There is tremendous lag, though, between those changing views and the response from hardliners in the House and Senate, who are out of step with the majority but still receive a lot of money from the older population. The poll suggests that someday, and maybe not even that far into the future, we'll see the election of a Florida politician (maybe even a Cuban American) who runs with engagement as part of his or her platform.